 Bari Weiss Puts the BS in CBSInternal emails showed that CBS producers worried a story about the ICE shooting in Minneapolis was flimsy. It ran anyway.Last week’s biggest headline was the killing of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in her car in Minneapolis. DHS fired up the propaganda machine, with Kristi Noem, JD Vance, and DHS spokeswoman Tricia Mclaughlin pumping out lies on all channels: claiming the shooting was “self defense,” alleging that the “rioters” were attacking ICE officers. Trump himself said that Ross was run over and lucky to be alive. Then CBS entered the chat on X:
Trump and Bari Weiss This doesn’t pass the smell testWhen CBS posted the full story, it included not one single on the record source: no named officials, no doctors, not even a medical record. Just a statement seemingly Cyrano’ed straight out of Kristi Noem’s mouth: “The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good last week in Minneapolis, Jonathan Ross, suffered internal bleeding to the torso following the incident, according to two U.S. officials briefed on his medical condition. It was unclear how extensive the bleeding was. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Ross’ injury, but has not yet responded to CBS News’ requests for more information. This story will be updated as we learn more.” That’s not journalism. That’s transcription. They knew it was thin, but ran it anywayThe sense this that story wasn’t exactly on the level wasn’t just a “spidey sense.” The Guardian reported on “huge internal concern” at CBS. In an email, before the original report was published, a medical producer suggested that “it would be helpful to ask what type of treatment he received”, and whether the officer received surgery or any other type of procedure. CBS News senior vice-president David Reiter wrote, “I’m no doctor, but internal bleeding is a very broad term and can range in severity. A bruise is internal bleeding. But it can also be something serious,” Reiter continued. “We do know that the ICE agent walked away from the incident – we have that on camera.” (The network’s story noted that “videos from the scene showed Ross walking away after the incident”.) A CBS news staffer confirmed to the Guardian there was major dissent in the newsroom about the “internal bleeding” report being a thinly veiled anonymous leak by the Trump administration, meant for an outlet they could trust to run it, no questions asked. The journalists did their jobs. Their editors ignored them. The buck stops at Bari Weiss, the head of CBS News, and she clearly got out of the way. How this actually worksThis is all by design. We’re not quite at blunt force media censorship. This is something subtler, more insidious. The administration doesn’t need to issue directives, because it’s peddling access in exchange for favors. And it’s dangling incentives for organizations driven by fear. Trump barely has to lift a finger to apply pressure to these media companies. They’re already coming to him on their knees, desperate for the government to approve their mergers (Paramount/CBS, Netflix/Warner Bros.), their fat government contracts (SpaceX), or to settle their lawsuits (Paramount, Disney, Meta). He has all the leverage in the world. The only way for these corporations to get what they want is to comply. Why Bari Weiss Matters HereBari has always framed herself as “anti-institution.” Like that weird, millennial-branded church in a gentrified neighborhood, she does things… a little differently. But that’s not what happened here. When she heard about this story on the morning editorial call, according to news staffers, she leaned in. Hard. She let the story run, despite it being a copy-paste of boilerplate Trump administration propaganda. The general consensus on Bari’s hiring at CBS News what that she was installed to be a mouthpiece for the administration. She seems to be going above and beyond. This isn’t inside baseball, it’s a collapse in trustAccording to the YouGov 2025 Trust in Media survey, nearly half of Americans have an unfavorable or very unfavorable view of both “the news media” and “the press.” And CBS is not helping. More Americans say they trust ESPN to tell the truth than CBS News. How’s that for a commentary of the state of American media? America’s preferred news sources break down like this:
So, when legacy outlets like CBS fail to do basic reporting, like what happened here, they’re actively training audiences to look elsewhere. And if that doesn’t set off alarm bells, there’s this: When Americans were asked who is responsible for creating the most fake news and disinformation, social media platforms and TV cable/news networks tied for first place at 19% each. That means nearly one in five Americans believes mainstream news is no more trustworthy than a random troll account online. That’s the cost of stenography masquerading as journalism. We’re at an inflection pointThe problem with massive media conglomerates is that they’re susceptible to pressure. Trump knows it. He leans on them, and they fold. Every time. That’s why this isn’t just a CBS problem. It’s a structural one. These outlets need approvals, access, and political goodwill to survive, and Trump is happy to use that leverage. The result isn’t blunt censorship. It’s quiet compliance. And that’s exactly why independent media has to fill the void legacy outlets are leaving behind. If you’ve followed my work or read my book, you know I’ve been saying this for years. This is why. We need media that isn’t built around keeping powerful people comfortable. Because now it’s not just a right-wing media machine we’re up against. It’s legacy institutions that have been captured, intimidated, or co-opted by it. They’re showing us who they are.
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