Bari Weiss says CBS News must start ‘building.’ Her first act: hiring 18 commentators.

We’re getting a clearer picture of what new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has in store for CBS News.

Eric Deggans, NPR’s critic-at-large, put it this way: “Seems like her plan is to replace the journalists w/podcasters/influencers.”

That certainly was one of the vibes you could get following a town hall that Weiss had with CBS News staffers on Tuesday. She told staff, “We are not producing a product that enough people want.”

Weiss also said, “Our strategy until now has been: Cling to the audience that remains on broadcast television. I’m here to tell you that if we stick to that strategy, we’re toast. Starting now, we have to focus on what we’re building, not on what we’re maintaining.”

With that, NPR’s David Folkenflik reported, “Weiss announced the hiring of 18 paid commentators — on subjects ranging from national security to health and wellness — as part of an effort to ‘widen the aperture of the stories we tell and the voices we listen to.’ They include HR McMaster, who served as national security advisor during the first Trump administration; Reihan Salam, the president of the conservative Manhattan Institute; and the historian Niall Ferguson.”