The Coming CBS News Cuts
Last month, when Bari Weiss hosted her inaugural town hall with CBS News staffers, one topic was clearly on the minds of her anxious workforce: the prospect of more layoffs. CBS News had already made cuts in October as part of a broader workforce reduction at parent company Paramount. Dozens of staffers—though fewer than 100—were affected by that round.
“Are there more CBS News cuts coming?” a CBS News staffer asked the new editor in chief at the town hall.
Weiss did not answer directly. Instead, she referenced her goals around “restoring trust” and spoke about the “tsunami of technological change” reshaping the broader industry. Weiss then said that she would not stand before staffers and tell them that the “incredible moment of transformation” facing the network would not also mean “transformation of our workforce.”
That’s because, behind the scenes, CBS News executives are actively sketching out plans for another deep round of cuts, some key details of which Status has learned. According to people briefed on the situation, the coming layoffs are expected to…
The remainder of this newsletter is for paid subscribers only.
Scoop-driven reporting and sharp-edged analysis. See why thousands of industry professionals rely on Status.
Already a subscriber? Sign in.
A subscription gets you full access to our nightly newsletter, which includes:
✅ Essential reporting on and analysis of the Fourth Estate, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the Information Wars, and more.
✅ Hand-curated links to the most consequential stories moving the needle in the key corridors of the industry.
✅ Unlimited access to our online archive where you can read previous editions of the newsletter.
Related Knowledge Center: The CBS submission
Corporate pressure has led to capitulation by CBS News in a number of conflicts with the Trump regime — including its newly ideological coverage philosophy.
Related Knowledge Center: Inside the newsroom
As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies — they are deploying an array of editorial responses.
The Times and its critics | Washington Post mortem
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.