CBS News’ leadership just told staffers why the broadcast network is enacting a new round of job cuts.
“Today we are reducing the size of our workforce,” top editor Bari Weiss and network president Tom Cibrowski said in a memo to CBS News staff on Friday morning, which was obtained by Business Insider.
“It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it,” they wrote.
A person with direct knowledge of the layoff plans previously told Business Insider that CBS News was set to lay off dozens of employees.
Weiss and Cibrowski didn’t mention the scope of the cuts in their memo, though they said that “some parts of our newsroom must get smaller to make room for the things we must build to remain competitive.”
“We’re saying goodbye to a number of our colleagues and friends today,” Weiss told staffers in the network’s editorial meeting on Friday morning, according to a recording of the call obtained by Business Insider.
“The most important thing that I want to say to everyone in this newsroom — and, in particular, to the people that are going to be affected today — is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of your work, and the way that you have poured your heart and soul into this organization,” Weiss said.
“It simply has everything to do with the times we’re living in,” Weiss continued.
She told staffers she wanted to be as transparent about the cuts as “we ask you to be with our audience.”
Weiss suggested that cuts could be coming at a company town hall in late January, saying that CBS News needed to reinvent itself for the digital age and in the face of a “tsunami of technological change.”
“I can’t stand up here and tell you that in a moment of incredible transformation that that’s not going to mean transformation of our workforce,” Weiss said to employees at an all-hands meeting.
Weiss was brought on last fall by David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance, which owns CBS News. Unlike network president Tom Cibrowski, she reports directly to Ellison.
The CBS News editor-in-chief has been tasked with overhauling a news network whose ratings have lagged behind rivals ABC and NBC for years.
Weiss was an unconventional choice to lead CBS News. She had worked as an opinion editor at The New York Times until 2020, when she publicly resigned, saying the paper’s staffers had a woke bias. Weiss then started and ran The Free Press, an anti-establishment news site, which Paramount acquired when it hired her.
Early in her tenure, Weiss turned heads by delaying a “60 Minutes” story critical of the Trump administration’s deportation policy, around the time Paramount was bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery. Some employees have questioned whether Weiss is politically biased, though the CBS editor has said she’s not “a mouthpiece for anybody.”
Weiss has made programming changes, such as moving morning show cohost Tony Dokoupil to anchor of “CBS Evening News.”
She signed star Gayle King to a new deal while Anderson Cooper is exiting his role as a “60 Minutes” correspondent.
Read the full memo to CBS News employees below:
Good morning, Today we are reducing the size of our workforce, and employees who are affected will be notified by the end of the day. We recognize that this is a difficult time for those who will be leaving CBS News. Because these aren’t just names on a list. They are talented, committed colleagues who have been critical to our success. We’ll treat them all with care and respect. It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it. New audiences are burgeoning in new places, and we are pressing forward with ambitious plans to grow and invest so that we can be there for them. That means some parts of our newsroom must get smaller to make room for the things we must build to remain competitive. But these are very hard choices and today is a difficult day. This is a tough message to receive at any time, and especially in the middle of an exceptionally intense news cycle. This organization is working its heart out to deliver for our audience. We’re so grateful to all of you, and we thank you for handling this difficult news with compassion. Bari and Tom
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