Danger Lurks As CBS Capitulates To Right Wing Extremism

As corporate media and the White House blur into one unholy entity, we must be intellectually armed and ready to fight the increasing disinformation war

Once upon a time CBS was the home of Walter Cronkite, “the most trusted man in America.” This week CBS announced it will be the home of a new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, a right wing firebrand who made her name by getting professors fired for criticizing the Israeli government. The press was meant to be a watchdog, the Fourth Estate. Instead, at CBS it has now become a concierge service for fascism—polishing propaganda while our republic burns.

How did CBS go from the most trusted man in America…to Bari Weiss?

Now, more than ever, the American public must be informed on the motivations behind the news corporations they follow, their biases, and their funding sources. Otherwise, we risk exposing ourselves to disinformation campaigns designed to grease the wheels of an aspiring dictatorial regime. But we are not helpless, and here’s how we fight back. Let’s Address This.

How Did We Get Here?

How does CBS go from hosting the most trusted man in America to someone like Bari Weiss, known for her disinformation campaigns? It was a long and slow process, but one that has aggressively accelerated in the last several years. At the center are Donald Trump, greed driven corporate media executives looking to enact a merger, the departure of principled journalists from CBS who were outraged at CBS’s capitulation to an authoritarian, and the opportune time to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at a right wing pundit to fill the vacuum, thus completing the transformation.

1. The Donald Trump Effect

It is now well documented that Donald Trump has weaponized the presidency against free speech at every turn. Recently, Trump sued CBS and Paramount Global for $20 billion. Why? Because he claims a “60 Minutes” segment caused him “mental anguish” and damaged his reputation as a content creator. Yes, this is real. The man who has the nuclear codes wants sympathy for missing out on Instagram clout.

2. CBS Executives Capitulate To Trump

But Trump’s petulance in and of itself did not harm CBS. CBS executives chose to do that to themselves when they bent the knee to Trump. Rather than fight government overreach as the Fourth Estate is supposed to do, CBS’s parent company Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle the case. Why? Because of corporate greed. Paramount knew that the Trump regime controlled the fate of a merger with Skydance Media. Hence, the $16 million bribe settlement was simply the cost of doing business for billionaires to become even more powerful billionaires. This set off a chain reaction.

3. Journalists With Integrity Leave CBS

The above reckless decisions were not without consequence. Instead, two major leaders at CBS with integrity—CBS News President Wendy McMahon and “60 Minutes” Executive Producer Bill Owens—both resigned. They saw the writing on the wall, that the company that became great by platforming the most trusted man in America, was now bending the knee to the most compulsive liar in America. Then, in another act of flagellation, CBS abruptly announced it would end Steven Colbert’s tenure and cancel the Late Show altogether—curiously decided mere hours after Colbert criticized CBS for bribing Trump.

Thus, the chain reaction continued. The departure of principled leaders like McMahon and Owens left a vacuum. A vacuum that should have been filled by other leaders with integrity. Instead, CBS has brought in Bari Weiss, paying $150 million for her right wing media company, and making her its new editor-in-chief.

4. Bari Weiss Fills the Vacuum But Without The Integrity

Journalist Judd Legum excellently details the systemic propaganda that has come to define Bari Weiss’s career as a journalist right wing pundit. He reports how Weiss falsely accused UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of covering up child sex trafficking, how she falsely accused the U.N. of inflating the death toll in Gaza, how she additionally lied about famine in Gaza, and how she falsely demonized Muslims in Canada. And, how she has refused to issue a single retraction on her grotesque disinformation campaigns that would make Alex Jones blush. In fact, adding to the hypocrisy and absurdity of it all, Weiss’s claim to fame is proclaiming herself as a free speech warrior, then actively denying the years she spent getting professors fired for criticizing the Israeli government.

Call It What It Is—The Rise of State Media

And thus, CBS’s transformation from Cronkite to Weiss, from trust to propaganda, is complete. The only benefactors are billionaires bent on advancing their power and control over the American people—which is the exact opposite of what the Fourth Estate is supposed to do.

And for those who might claim I’m being hyperbolic to call Weiss dangerous, what else do you call a person who falsely accuses a Head of State of child sex trafficking, who demonizes Muslims for our faith, who openly denies genocide and famine—telling us not to believe our own eyes and the testimony of millions?

This isn’t a series of unfortunate lapses in judgment. It’s a pattern. It’s collusion. It’s a soft coup through compliant media executives and billionaire owners who are terrified of upsetting Trump—and more terrified of losing market share. So, they work to appease the Authoritarian in Chief, create conditions to push out principled journalists, and fill that vacuum with voices who are an effective extension of the White House. Far from the Fourth Estate, this is what State Media looks like.

Paramount and CBS’s surrender to right wing propaganda is just the latest example of how corporate media serves power, not truth. And we’re paying the price. Cowardice in journalism is not a neutral act. It is betrayal. And we don’t have time left for soft takes and polite critiques. Not when fascism is knocking on every door.

How We Fight Back

1. Support Independent Voices

I launched Let’s Address This to actively confront and counter injustice. Now, more than 590 articles and 33 million readers later, we’ve built something powerful. We’ve exposed corruption, elevated marginalized voices, and challenged fascism at every step. But I cannot and have not done this alone.

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2. Use Ground News to Cut Through the Noise

How would you know that CBS is giving hundreds of millions to a right wing firebrand? How would you know of their funding and biases? How would you know that the platform that once hosted the most trusted man in America, is now bending the knee to the most prolific liar in America? Well, up until now you likely wouldn’t. That’s where tools like Ground News come into play—tools I use when researching and writing articles to disseminate to each of you.

Ground News is more than a news website and app—it’s a critical tool in a disinformation age. I use it every day. If you care about getting the critical context missing from your typical newsfeeds—and I know you do—you need Ground News.

In addition to gathering related articles globally in one place, revealing source bias and factuality, they cut through partisanship and sensationalism to focus on the facts—Ground News reports on who funds a media outlet.

It’s also worth mentioning that Ground News itself is subscriber supported, not billionaire funded. So by subscribing, you directly support my newsletter and you contribute to keeping the media transparent. And right now if you subscribe to Ground News at my exclusive link below, you’ll conveniently get 40% off their Vantage Plan, the same one I use. That's $5/month to stop letting other people's agendas control how you think.

Conclusion

The story of CBS’s collapse from Cronkite to Weiss is not just about one network’s moral failure. Broadly, it’s about the consequences of apathy in the face of creeping authoritarianism. When billion-dollar media conglomerates exchange integrity for access, when truth becomes negotiable, and when the pursuit of profit outweighs the pursuit of justice, democracy itself hangs in the balance.

But—and I say this with full conviction—we are not powerless. The same technology that spreads disinformation can also expose it— if we choose to support the voices doing the work. That’s where we come in.

We can fight back by building the media we deserve. Invest in independent voices rooted in facts, not financiers. By supporting Let’s Address This, you’re fueling insight that refuses to bow to the powerful and continues shining a light on what others are paid to ignore. Every subscription, every share, every act of engagement helps keep this work alive. And by using tools like Ground News, we can reclaim our power as informed citizens. It’s not enough to read the news — we must understand who’s behind it.

Fascism thrives on confusion and silence. Truth, transparency, and people-powered journalism are how we fight back. So, subscribe. Stay engaged. Support independent voices and fact-based platforms that serve you, not billionaires.