Paramount to acquire The Free Press, Bari Weiss takes helm at CBS News

Paramount is acquiring The Free Press, founder Bari Weiss said in a formal announcement, positioning the deal as a bid to scale the outlet’s journalism across the media company’s platforms. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal reports the price at about $150 million.

In the note to readers, Weiss wrote: “The Free Press is joining Paramount,” adding that the move reflects “the vision of Paramount’s new leaders” and the backing of Free Press subscribers. 

Weiss said she will continue to lead The Free Press as CEO and editor-in-chief, while also being editor-in-chief of CBS News, working on flagship programmes, including 60 Minutes and Sunday Morning. She framed the deal as a chance to extend the outlet’s mission to a far larger audience while maintaining its editorial independence inside Paramount. 

“The Free Press, which will remain independent, will be growing even faster within Paramount. We’ll be investing heavily in this community, and so many of the things we’ve long dreamed about will become possible much more quickly,” Weiss said in the note. 

Positioning the merger against wider media turbulence, Weiss argued that there is a sizable audience for non-partisan reporting and plainspoken commentary. 

“You demonstrated that there’s a market for honest journalism,” she told subscribers, calling the moment both exciting and deeply uncertain.

The move, she said, is intended to help reshape a storied media organization and bring The Free Press’s values, ‘curiosity and honesty’ and ‘healthy disagreement’, to millions more people. 

Weiss also cast the step as a counter to a polarized environment where extremes on the left and right exert outsized influence on news and culture. The immediate mandate at CBS News, she wrote, is a ‘redoubled commitment to great journalism’ and to making the broadcaster “the most trusted news organization in the world.”

She credited Paramount leadership, including new owners, for ‘doubling down’ on news and for recognizing that ‘America cannot thrive without common facts, common truths, and a common reality.’

Operationally, Weiss emphasized continuity for paying readers: core products, investigations, features, columns and podcasts will remain, with added investment and faster delivery inside the new corporate home. The announcement did not disclose financial terms or an exact closing timeline, but presented the move as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to expand reach while preserving The Free Press’s identity.