CBS News Managing Editor Charles Forelle Denies Trump Influence Over Bari Weiss Hire at SABEW Conference

Charles Forelle, managing editor of CBS News, told Semafor that the convention in American journalism is that the owners are independent of the news operation and that is the case at CBS. Forelle, a former top Wall Street Journal editor who is Bari Weiss’ deputy at CBS News, spoke at the annual conference of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing in Philadelphia on Friday.

David Ellison said that editorial independence would be the case at CBS no matter what.

Forelle said his hire and Bari Weiss’ hire were not part of a deal between the Trump administration and the Ellison family. He added that David Ellison is very clear that CBS is editorially independent of the ownership. President Donald Trump has suggested that the new regime at CBS was installed to trade regulatory approval for more sympathetic coverage.

Forelle said journalists at CBS do all the stuff that journalists do and hope that self-appointed criticizers see that. CBS has done lots of stories that are critical of the administration and critical of Trump. President Donald Trump told Tony Dokoupil: I got you your job.

Forelle noted that Tony Dokoupil was the person that CBS wanted to be the anchor. The interview between Ben Smith and Charles Forelle took place before May 11, 2026. Ben Smith is Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Semafor.

Forelle said CBS does not think it wants to move 10 degrees to the right and find the center. He said CBS believes there is a wider aperture of audience out there than other people think. CBS has covered nonprofit fraud in Minnesota more aggressively and has covered hospice fraud in California more aggressively.

The New York Times did great work on nonprofit fraud in Minnesota. CBS has been aggressive on coverage of fraud in Minnesota involving a reporter in Minneapolis who has since moved to the network. Journalists come to Charles Forelle and Bari Weiss every day pitching new shows and podcasts.

CBS has a whole roster of pilots running now with existing talent inside CBS that had not been able to do that in the past. Charles Forelle said they are buyers of good ideas and that people are responding to that. CBS ratings are at historic lows for the morning show and the news.

Charles Forelle has been in his television life for six months as of the interview. CBS had killer ratings on Artemis and had killer ratings on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting. Four million people watch the Evening News every day.

On any given Sunday, 8-10 million people watch 60 Minutes. Paramount has a streaming service that has 8 million viewers while HBO Max has 140-ish million subscribers.