Veteran newsman Dan Rather just dropped a bombshell critique on CBS News’ latest moves, sounding the alarm over what he sees as a dangerous shift away from journalistic integrity, as Deadline reports.
Rather, the iconic -- but controversial -- CBS Evening News anchor from 1981 to 2005, unleashed his concerns on his Substack platform, Steady, targeting the recent hiring of Bari Weiss as editor in chief and the Skydance-Paramount merger as twin threats to independent reporting at the network.
The controversy kicked off with the announcement of Weiss’ appointment on Monday, a move that raised eyebrows given her background as an opinion writer rather than a seasoned broadcast journalist.
Paramount’s acquisition of Weiss’ outlet, The Free Press, known for its strong pro-Israel stance and criticism of progressive cultural trends, adds another layer of complexity to her new role at CBS News.
Rather argues this hire isn’t just a personnel change -- it’s a signal of deeper influence from conservative billionaire David Ellison, who is tied to the Skydance-Paramount merger, which Rather claims got a green light from the FCC under pressure from the Trump administration.
Let’s be real: a newsroom led by someone with a clear editorial slant, especially one lacking traditional broadcast experience, could potentially tilt the scales away from objective reporting and toward agenda-driven narratives, though others would suggest bias was a hallmark of the network prior to Weiss' arrival.
Rather didn’t mince words on what he sees as the potential fallout, writing, “That deal and the hiring of Weiss signals to everyone, especially to the man in the Oval Office, that CBS is no longer independent, but under the tutelage of a conservative billionaire who is putting more than his thumb on the scale,” on his Substack platform, Steady.
Translation? He’s suggesting that CBS News might now be a mouthpiece for powerful interests, a far cry from the days of trusted icons like Cronkite and Murrow, who built the network’s reputation.
And while Rather’s own exit from CBS in 2005 came after a controversy over a retracted report on President George W. Bush’s National Guard service, his defense of that story -- insisting that the documents used were never proven fraudulent -- shows he’s not one to shy away from challenging the powerful.
Rather also painted a grim picture for CBS staff, warning, “Rather than doing their jobs as sentinels of democracy, who independently cover the news and hold the powerful accountable, they now have to be concerned about how their pitches, their stories, and their scripts will be received by someone with a clear political agenda,” on Steady.
This kind of environment, Rather suggests, where every word is weighed against a political litmus test, is a recipe for self-censorship -- hardly the hallmark of a free press.
Add to that the looming layoffs across Paramount, and Rather says you will have a newsroom full of journalists more worried about their next paycheck than their next scoop. Talk about a morale killer.
Now, let’s not pretend the media landscape hasn’t been a battleground for years, with accusations of bias flying from all sides, but installing leadership with a known ideological bent risks amplifying the problem rather than solving it, Rather says.
CBS News, once a bastion of hard-hitting reporting, now faces the challenge of maintaining credibility while navigating these corporate and political crosswinds -- a tightrope walk that could leave viewers questioning what’s fact and what’s spin.
A Paramount spokesperson opted for silence on Rather’s pointed critique, which for some only fuels the perception of a network ducking tough questions about its future direction. If the goal is trust, stonewalling isn’t necessarily the way to build it.
