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A Word to the Weiss | An Unauthorized Reprint
David Ellison has quietly courted Bari Weiss for a possible role at CBS News—a move that hints at how he may steer the network if his merger goes through.
by Oliver Darcy - June 24th, 2025 [Source]
David Ellison and Bari Weiss. Bari Weiss (Status Illustration/Leigh Vogel/Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Late last year, during a trip to New York City, David Ellison quietly made time for a meeting that said as much about his worldview as it did about his interest in media. According to people familiar with the matter, the Hollywood scion set time aside on his busy calendar to meet with Bari Weiss, the founder of The Free Press. Ellison, like a number of C-suite executive types, has long been an admirer of Weiss’ style of journalism, I’m told, viewing her as one of the more compelling voices in the shifting landscape of independent journalism.
During the meeting, Ellison, who is set to control CBS News once the Paramount Global–Skydance Media deal closes, expressed strong interest in recruiting Weiss to work in some capacity with the network, according to people familiar with the matter. I’m told that Ellison appeared to leave a wide range of options on the table, signaling that he sees Weiss as a valuable addition while he considers how to put his stamp on the news division. While a management role is not said to be on the table, it would not be out of the range of possibilities that she could be named as an on-air contributor or even perhaps given a coveted correspondent position on “60 Minutes.”
That said, it’s unclear whether the discussions between Ellison and Weiss ever advanced beyond the meeting late last year and a representative for Skydance declined to comment. Weiss did not respond to a request for comment. Regardless, the fact that the conversation occurred at all offers an early glimpse of Ellison’s thinking and how he plans to reshape the storied news organization, once home to the likes of Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow.
In recent years, Weiss has become a major star in right-wing media, known for assailing mainstream institutions as out of touch and under the trance of the “woke” left. Weiss has also gained significant notoriety for chastising and portraying mainstream news outlets, including CBS News, as biased instruments of the progressive elite. While Weiss might be popular in certain circles, many journalists view her unfavorably, criticizing both her tactics and views.
That Ellison would entertain bringing her into the fold signals not only his appetite for shaking up the network, but also the kind of voices he might turn to. Not only does Ellison appear to be interested in looking beyond traditional broadcasting talent, but he appears to be on board with introducing voices that have made their names by relentlessly criticizing—or outright bashing—the legacy press.
Indeed, the Weiss outreach offers one of the first tangible clues as to how Ellison might seek to chart a new course for CBS News, given that he has remained largely silent in public about his vision for the network. While Ellison hasn’t spelled out his plans, he’s recently been spotted ringside at UFC fights alongside Donald Trump as he seemingly tries to win over the president for government approval of his protracted merger. Taken together, the actions suggest Ellison may be comfortable moving the network in a direction that aims to appeal more to right-leaning audiences—whether because of his personal preference, the current political moment, or both.
Of course, inside CBS News, the journalists are on edge about what their new parent company will do with the organization, particularly after network boss Wendy McMahon and “60 Minutes” chief Bill Owens both resigned earlier this year in protest over corporate interference. Morale inside “60 Minutes,” I’m told, is at a nadir, with staffers uncertain what the future holds for the crown jewel of American broadcast journalism. Moreover, broadly throughout the organization, staffers are anticipating the new owners will seek to implement budget cuts when they get the keys to the palace—and they’re not wrong to harbor such worries.
For now, however, Ellison’s exact plans for CBS News remain unclear and the Skydance team is holding those cards close to the vest. But his meeting with Weiss—and the broader questions it raises about the kind of talent he might seek to bring in—is sure to add to the unease already coursing through the newsroom. What is certain is that CBS News is making its way through a period of profound uncertainty, as employees wait to see what is in store for them, just around the corner.
My Words
It’s a really bad time to be putting critical reporting like this behind a paywall. I’ll take it down if asked, but I believe everyone needs to be able to read this, not just those in the know or who can afford to. The oligarchy has been working hard for a very long time to grapple back their stranglehold over the American economy. The ultra wealthy are snapping up anything of value, monetary, production, competitive, and messaging platforms alike, in order to have greater control over what we see, hear, buy, have access to, and otherwise consume, and not for the betterment of society. Read this. Share this. We clearly can’t stop it, as much as the courts can stop the Trump Administration from breaking the law and the Constitution, but if we know, we can stop watching CBS altogether. #capitalism #journalism #uspol #editorial
IAPWE won't leave us alone!
We are being harassed by the International Association of Professional Writers and Editors, also known as IAPWE. We signed up for memberships a few years ago, then cancelled after our first year. We found no benefit to the membership. Now, despite cancelling everything we could find on PayPal, speaking with the credit card servicer who can do nothing, and emailing IAPWE over and over and over again, they continue to charge us.
We both subscribed using PayPal, and we’ve no clue how they got our card details to charge us directly! I’m going to assume they can see all those details in the PayPal dashboard, which is frightening. The image above is a receipt from earlier this year, but the charges have not stopped.
This has been going on for over a year now, and we can’t stop it. We’ve considered cancelling the card, which is provided to my wife by her professional union, if this continues. Our emails to them used to get professional responses claiming they would stop, but now they don’t even bother to respond, even to threats of legal action. At least cancelling the PayPal accounts has stopped that vector.
I am posting this as both a warning against considering membership with IAPWE as well as a reminder of the almost complete lack of control we have over our money. It’s utterly maddening. Be careful, please. It’s not the amount they’re trying to take, but the principal. If they do this to enough unsuspecting people, they could be making a lot of free money if it turns out they are indeed a scam operation. #capitalism #PSA #moneymatters #personalfinance #writing #writers
Are Apple Silicon Macs too good?
In his latest video Luke Miani asks if #Apple made their new machines too good. Across two polls, having run a second one to verify the results of the first, respondents strongly indicated they had no intention of upgrading their early M-series Macs. I have a feeling Apple fully expected that, however. Watch the video on YouTube. We have three Mini’s, two M1 and one Intel, and have no need to upgrade them anytime soon. I may desire an M4 Mini, but I don’t need one. What is behind this?
To understand this there are, I believe, two different, unrelated factors that need to be taken into consideration:
- Apple’s primary drivers of revenue are the #iPhone, the App Store, and services.
- There are millions upon millions of #Windows users who might choose to move to Apple rather than be forced upgrade to Windows 11 but cannot since their hardware is incompatible, because #Microsoft has chosen to enshittify their desktop with ads and #AI, or both.
Apple’s personal computer marketshare has long been around 20% with Microsoft dominating for literal decades with 72% of the PC market. But it’s critical to understand that a decade ago Microsoft had well over 80%, and it continues to slowly decay. The iPhone plays a significant role in the fact that Apple has a $2.5T valuation, as consumers tend to upgrade every two years, giving Apple a mostly reliable playing field to project consistent revenues.
NOTE: Microsoft has a similar market capitalization to Apple but the important distinction is that Microsoft engages in a wide range of markets, including corporate software and services, as well as the Xbox and video games publishing, all of which contribute to the company’s bottom line. Apple still competes by offering a mere fraction of the models and verticals of its rivals.
That consistency is crucial. It allows Apple to not only sit back and just let their Mac users be Mac users and upgrade as they please, but also breathing room for some mild experimentation with various services and hardware. The iPhone Mini was available for the iPhone 12 and 13 then cancelled to be replaced by the Plus model, which has been around longer than the Mini. And the next rumored experiment will be the iPhone Air which may appear this October. They’ve also got enough in the bank to allow them to pivot and shift based on unforeseen market fluctuations or, in the case of component availability, weather the less than stellar rollout of the moderately underwhelming M3 processor.
And Apple isn’t blind. I’m quite sure that one major consideration in their calculations is Microsoft and their recent “efforts” to tank their own success. Users are unhappy with Windows 11 and in October of this year Microsoft will be ending support for the far more popular Windows 10. Many users are even downgrading to Windows 10 to escape the oppressive changes in Windows 11. In addition, the upgrade to Windows 11 requires support for TPM 2.0 which will “relegate” millions of unsupported systems to be discarded or sold for cheap, an outcome that is exciting many nerds over the prospect of a torrent of dirt cheap or free computers which can happily and securely run #Linux and other operating systems. Linux is an easy and capable migration path, but being honest with ourselves, most Windows users won’t go this direction.
I think Apple knows this. For one, they’ve maintained a stability in offerings that is appealing when compared to Microsoft’s numerous radical shifts over the years, the frequency of which has started to turn off consumers. Second, Apple has been aggressive in allowing resellers to offer significant sale pricing and even has an exclusive deal with Walmart to sell new M1 Macbook Air base models for $700 and which is on seemingly permanent sale for $650. In most of Apple’s history this is unprecedented, as they have for decades required resellers to match their own pricing and not offer sales. Finally, Apple’s resale value for their Intel models has dropped precipitously and used M1 and M2 machines are a lot more affordable than they used to be, presenting an enticing option for budget buyers.
Apple, for the most part, has played the long game. Pixar focused on getting one particular element perfected for each film so they might add that element to their toolbox for later films like fur in Monsters Inc. and the ocean in Finding Nemo. Apple has done much the same, working on iterations of various elements of their systems, refining them until they meet their internal expectations for excellence. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Steve Jobs ran both and had, with help from others to manifest his vision, been instrumental in forming the foundations of two entire industries. Ingest that in whatever form you prefer.
The short answer to the question posed by Luke is no. The suggestion that CEO Tim Cook and the entire team at Apple could have miscalculated that the potential longevity of their products could cause Apple, one of the wealthiest corporations on planet Earth, to disintegrate or fall into the doldrums of relevance is in itself a miscalculation of what Apple is and how it operates. Is Apple flawless? Hell no. Most recently, I think they horribly miscalculated both the retail price and consumer interest in Apple Vision. There are other failures dotting Apple’s history, as well.
On the other hand, they basically own the tablet market. Full stop. They swap first and second place with Samsung for mobile phone volume, and Samsung has to make dozens of models to compete with Apple. AirPods are stupid popular. The Apple Watch has a huge chunk of the smart watch market. Apple is doing well, and all whilst offering a fraction of the options of others they compete with.
#tech #technology #opinion
I am not an illustrator or an artist of any kind, but I’ve been messing with images for decades. However #Adobe sucks ass so instead I’ve been using Pixelmator since 2010 or so. I made this in Pixelmator Pro for macOS 15. #TFG #satire #funny #art #idiocracy #EndFascismNow #DeposeTrump #SaveAmerica
There is a very dear price we will pay if we allow our elected leaders to keep leaning into the Overton Window #TFG smashed open. In other words, the #Democrats need to be taught what #FAFO really means and now, not in 2026. #uspol rimaregasblog42.substack.com/p/those-w…
$15 a month for a single newsletter is unsustainable
#journalism #dollarnomics #editorial - Tyler K. Nothing reporting.
DATELINE INTERNETOPIA - #Substack has created a mythology in the form of the $15 a month newsletter. The claim was that it would help support independent writers who have been driven out of organized news gathering by capitalist greed’s desire to “trim the fat” (meaning people who cost money they’d rather have in their Cayman bank accounts), but the model is unsustainable. In reality, all it does is net Substack more revenue.
Substack charging for "setting up" custom domain names you own is extortion
That sour, disappointed look flooded onto my wife’s face. She was upset. I asked her what was wrong, and she explained to me that her Wordpress stats weren’t working like they used to. I poked around and couldn’t find anything obviously amiss in the Jetpack plugin settings, so I told her it was likely a glitch and would clear up. About a week later I got the email.
I think Sam Elliot kinda nails it… to the wall… with his special brand of gravitas and casual Southern snark. #politics #TFG #capitalism
Um. Wow. Okay… So, it’s a banana… and it’s taped to a wall… with a strip of standard silver duct tape. And it just sold at auction for $6.24 MILLION DOLLARS. Aside from being the easiest art to forge, I applaud artist Maurizio Cattelan for creating “Comedian” since it pokes the art industrial complex in the eye and the winning bid makes fools of every last art “speculator” out there. It also peeks under the veneer of stupid we’re running on these days. #art #banana #stupid www.nbcnews.com/news/us-n…
