Doing their part to undermine and destroy Bari Weiss’s time at CBS News before she can even settle in, Oliver Darcy’s website Status posted Wednesday night a story filled with anonymous sources offering Mean Girls-esque smears of Weiss, painting her as “abrasive,” “chaos,” “erratic,” and someone who “struggl[ed] to effectively lead.”
The result of these leaks, of course, are a giddy prediction success at CBS News “may prove difficult.”
Natalie Korach made her debut writing on behalf of the far-left, hateful, press-defending site, down to the snarky headline and subhead: “A Bari Trying Time; While Bari Weiss faces skepticism inside CBS News, former colleagues describe her management style to Status as chaotic and abrasive—raising questions about how she’ll lead one of America’s most storied newsrooms.”
She got right to work taking pot shots at Weiss in the middle of the second paragraph: “Thus far, Weiss is being viewed skeptically inside CBS News, to put it mildly. Senior leaders inside the company are holding their breath as they cautiously get to know her[.]”
She only alluded to those who’ve praised her, implying their opinions are disingenuous and less-than-truthful: “Some of her former employees and associates have publicly spoken highly of her, praising her hustle, entrepreneurship, and editorial point of view.”
This led into the anonymous takes, which she gushed as having told “a very different story, one marked by friction, disorganization, and erratic management.”
Korach opened the floodgates of disgruntled former employees:
According to multiple people who’ve worked closely with her, Weiss often struggled to effectively lead, burning through staff and leaving colleagues frustrated by what they described as a chaotic and sometimes combative style. Now, as the 41-year-old begins her tenure at CBS News, many inside the network will surely wonder whether that same volatile approach will follow her into one of America’s most storied newsrooms.
“It is chaos,” one former Free Press staffer, who, like others, spoke to Status on the condition of anonymity about Weiss’ management style. “She would admit that she can be difficult to work with. Even for people who totally agree with her.”
Another person familiar with Weiss’ management style described her as “last minute,” adding that “everything’s a mad rush.” A third person described her as astonishingly abrasive with employees.
For her part, Korach scoffed at Weiss because “it is a matter of public record that Weiss has no real experience leading a workforce the size of CBS News, let alone a television outlet” and the most she’s done in terms of leading was “only a few dozen” at The Free Press and a rocky “junior editor” stop at The New York Times.
The same could have been said about Korach’s boss Oliver Darcy running his own site after having been at CNN, Business Insider, and, before his change into a man filled with hate for conservatives, editor positions at Campus Reform and The Blaze.
Korach pointed out another possible Weiss pitfall she and boss Darcy are sure to exploit, which is “leading a far larger, more entrenched staff at CBS News” and avoid “alienat[ing]” staffers “who don’t share her worldview—and who already regard her appointment with deep suspicion.”
Translation? Liberal journalists hellbent on being stuck in their ways, unwilling to admit fault in widespread loss of trust in the press or, specific to CBS News, decades at third-place in the ratings.
She concluded with another proverbial kicking of dirt Weiss’s way:
[H]er success at CBS News will still depend on her ability to build trust..Alienating the rank and file won’t just erode morale; it will guarantee leaks, backbiting, and a steady stream of embarrassing headlines…[W]inning hearts and minds inside CBS News may prove difficult, if her former colleagues are any indication.
