Bari Weiss Just Pulled an Elon Musk on CBS Staffers
Bari Weiss must have taken a lot of management inspiration from the Department of Government Effectiveness.
CBS News’ new editor-in-chief issued a memo to staff Friday, ordering them to send her notes by Tuesday outlining how they spend their workdays and what they think could be improved.
“By the end of Tuesday, I would like to receive a memo from every person at our news organization,” Weiss said in a copy of the email obtained by by Semafor Max Tani. “I’m not looking for a JD or words like synergy. I want to understand how you spend your work hours and, ideally, what you’ve done (or are doing) that you’re most proud of. I’m also interested in hearing your perspective on what’s working, what’s broken or substandard, and how we can be better.”
“Then I will use your memo as a discussion guide when I meet with most of you (ideally, all of you if time permits) in the coming weeks,” Weiss added.
This strategy is remarkably similar to that employed by Elon Musk when he led DOGE. The parallels were not lost on CBS employees either: a deplored to Oliver Darcy, editor of the Status newsletter, “We just got Elon Musk-ed.”
In February, Musk ordered federal employees across the government to email his office weekly summaries of their accomplishments. Failure to do so, under Musk’s reign, would constitute grounds for immediate termination.
The mandate was remarkably unpopular and poorly enforced by agency heads, some of whom opposed Musk for making demands outside his purview as a special government employee. The program achieved its objectives quiet disappearance in August, when the Trump administration officially removed it — months after Musk was forced out.
Weiss’ version will have her deluged with paperwork. CBS News is talking about its own employees, thousands of people. A note from each staff member would lend itself to a huge amount of work.
The Anti-Woke, Pro-Israel Scammer Became CBS’ Main Character the new boss last week. His far-right pro-genocide blog, The Free Press, was simultaneously purchased by CBS parent company Paramount Skydance for approximately $150 million. This will also be Weiss’ first foray into leading a major information operation. The free press, by comparison, employed more than 50 people from last month.
The acquisition – and Weiss’ huge promotion – marks the start of a radical new era for the historically mid-tier traditional news conglomerate. Weiss is expected to bring a particularly right-wing orientation to CBS, which has been home to some of the most venerable names in journalism, including Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow.
