Bari Weiss, the CBS News boss, has ousted a veteran bureau chief following tensions over coverage of the Middle East and brought in a new foreign editor who, according to sources, is more aligned with Weissâs pro-Israel agenda.
Paramount, which owns CBS, announced on Wednesday that it had hired Shayndi Raice, a Wall Street Journal editor who most recently served as the paperâs deputy bureau chief for the Middle East and north Africa, based in Israel. Raice will move to London, where sheâll oversee the networkâs international coverage in a newly created position, the company said. In a social media post, Weiss called Raice âa scoophound reporter, a brilliant editor, and a clear-eyed leaderâ.
The announcement followed reports that CBS News had ousted Claire Day, the London bureau chief and a 25-year veteran of the network, reportedly over clashes about the networkâs coverage of Israelâs wars in Gaza and Iran.
At the journal, Raice had a reputation as âmuch more sympathetic to the Israeli perspective than the Palestinian [one]â, a former colleague said. Her approach often led to âfrictionâ with colleagues, they added. Other sources said colleagues concerned with what they saw as a pro-Israel slant repeatedly flagged concerns to the paperâs standards team. Journal leadership, for instance, learned that Raiceâs sister-in-law was a settler living in the West Bank, but concluded that it created no conflict. They also said that a review of the paperâs coverage of the conflict under her leadership found an over-reliance on Israeli sources and analysts.
CBS did not respond to a request for comment; the journal and Raice did not provide comment.
The move is the latest effort by Weiss, who was hired to lead the storied network in the fall despite having no broadcast experience, to overhaul CBS News. Her seven-month tenure has been marred by staff pushback and plunging morale, including after her decision late last year to pull a segment about abuses at the Cecot prison in El Salvador shortly before it aired. The segment aired several weeks later, after Weiss was engulfed by accusations that she had compromised the networkâs reputation for independence by carrying water for the Trump administration. She has overseen several rounds of layoffs at the network and several high-profile departures, as well as falling ratings.
Weiss, a self-declared âZionist fanaticâ and vocal supporter of the administrationâs war in Iran, has long accused the media of an anti-Israel bias. The publication she founded, the Free Press, which was bought by Paramount last year for around $150m, frequently publishes articles and opinions with a marked pro-Israel slant.
CBS is hardly the only media organisation dealing with tensions over Israel. Earlier this week, Mathias DĂśpfner, the CEO of Politicoâs parent company, Berlin-based Axel Springer, said on a call with staff that anyone who did not share the companyâs views â including its support for âIsraelâs right to existâ â should âwork for other companiesâ.
