Bari Weiss’ CBS News and MSNBC both just laid out their new journalistic principles — and they’re fascinatingly different

CBS: ‘America,’ ‘American,’ ‘all of the tools of the digital era’ and speed. MSNBC: Press freedom, the First Amendment and ethics

Posted Thursday, October 9, 2025 9:51 am

Laura Hazard Owen | Nieman Lab

Bari Weiss, founder of the pro-Israel, anti-woke Free Press, has sold the four-year-old news site to CBS parent company Paramount for a reported $150 million and is the new editor-in-chief of CBS News. And the left-leaning cable channel MSNBC has begun its split from NBC News, with plans to be fully independent by the end of October.

Both organizations are marking the occasion by sending top-10 lists of their values and principles to staff — and these lists offer a window into the different ways CBS and MSNBC are thinking about maintaining old audiences and reaching new ones.

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Bari Weiss’ CBS News and MSNBC both just laid out their new journalistic principles — and they’re fascinatingly different

CBS: ‘America,’ ‘American,’ ‘all of the tools of the digital era’ and speed. MSNBC: Press freedom, the First Amendment and ethics

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