Bari Weiss, the editor-in-chief of CBS News, known for her anti-woke stance, left the 60 Minutes team taken aback during a recent meeting. She challenged the journalists to reflect on why some viewers perceive their reporting as biased.

At 41, Weiss positions herself as a centrist and has emphasized political neutrality as a core component of her vision for CBS. During a private meeting on Tuesday, she posed a provocative seven-word question to the 60 Minutes staff, as reported by The New York Times.

“Why does the country think you’re biased?” Weiss asked directly, leaving the team members, including some of the show’s prominent figures, momentarily speechless and without a ready answer.

According to three unnamed sources who spoke to The New York Times, the question created an awkward moment for the team.

Notable reporters from 60 Minutes, such as Anderson Cooper, who also anchors for CNN, and veteran journalist Lesley Stahl, consider themselves objective in their reporting, the sources indicated.

They have fiercely rejected the idea perpetuated by Donald Trump and other conservatives that their coverage is left-leaning. 

Weiss has already caused a stir in her first two weeks filling the network’s top position, in which she vowed to provide news for the American ‘mainstream’ who have been ‘ill-served’ by the media. 

Her background as a vocal opinion journalist with no previous broadcast experience has made her a controversial pick for editor in chief.  

Anti-woke CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss (pictured) left the 60 Minutes team stunned when she asked them to consider why viewers think their coverage is slanted

‘Why does the country think you’re biased?’ Weiss bluntly asked the 60 Minutes team (pictured from left to right: Jon Wertheim, Bill Whitaker, Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega and Anderson Cooper)

She co-founded The Free Press, which Paramount Skydance is acquiring, and formerly worked as a NY Times opinion editor, but left the role due to the company’s ‘illiberal environment’ in 2020. 

While her official start date at CBS News was October 6, an insider previously told the Daily Mail she had been ‘informally consulting’ the company for ‘a while.’ 

Her hiring by new Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, the son of billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison, made waves within the CBS newsroom after a tumultuous year.

In October 2024, Donald Trump sued the network over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris that he claimed was deceptively edited.

Paramount ultimately agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle the lawsuit. 

That settlement paved the way for the administration’s approval of an $8billion merger between Skydance Media and Paramount in August. 

CBS News – specifically 60 Minutes – was also heavily criticized for its coverage of the Israel-Gaza war.

Network veteran Stahl specifically came under fire over her treatment of a Hamas hostage, with conservatives accusing her of being sympathetic towards the terrorist group in a damning April interview.  

Weiss’ (pictured) background as a vocal opinion journalist with no previous broadcast experience has made her a controversial pick for the editor-in-chief role

While her official start date at CBS News was October 6, an insider previously told the Daily Mail she had been ‘informally consulting’ the company for ‘a while’ (pictured: the CBS News building in New York City)

New Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison (pictured) is the son of billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison

Stahl was slammed after she asked former hostage Keith Siegel if Hamas terrorists starved him on purpose or if they just did not have any food to hand out. 

Seigel, who spent 484 days in captivity, replied: ‘No, I think they starved me, and they would often eat in front of me and not offer me food.’ 

Not long after, 60 Minutes Executive Producer Bill Owens and CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon both resigned over concerns with the company’s direction. 

Despite his previous run-ins with CBS, Trump recently told CNN the network will be ‘fairer’ with Weiss and Ellison in charge. ‘CBS has great potential,’ he said.