The big eye of CBS News might be turning to Fox for its next infusion of talent.
Bari Weiss, the new, reform-minded editor in chief of CBS News is reportedly trying to lure Bret Baier of Fox News to helm “CBS Evening News.”
And while the move might be a long shot, given Baier’s contractual relationship to Fox, even the possibility had social meda buzzing.
That would be AWESOME! Bret Baier is the Walter Cronkite of our time, even better.
— lbarandky (@LeslieBarandky) October 24, 2025
The move was first reported by former CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy in his newsletter, Status.
Darcy wrote that Weiss is known to have been looking at other media figures, such as former CBS reporter Catherine Herridge, to rejuvenate CBS. But his report also noted that Bair makes about $14 million a year at Fox and 2023 extended his contract with the network to 2028, according to Mediaite.
Baier currently hosts Fox’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” the fifth most-watched cable news program, according to TV Insider, an outlet that covers the television industry. (The four programs ahead of “Special Report” are all Fox News offerings.)
“CBS Evening News” is last among the Big Three legacy network news programs, according to TV Insider.
Should Bret Baier leave Fox News and join CBS if offered the job?
Baier, who joined Fox in 1998, is a reliable commodity at the network with a reputation for bringing a newsman’s sensibility to coverage that is a far cry from the reputation CBS News has built for itself as a liberal-leaning legacy outfit.
In last year’s presidential campaign, for instance, Baier’s interview with Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris made news because of Baier’s pressing questions and one misplaced video feed.
The coverage by CBS News, on the other hand, is probably best remembered for a decision by its flagship program “60 Minutes” to present two different versions of a Harris response to a question about the Middle East, apparently in an effort to make Harris look better.
Baier, and his contrasting approach to the job, would represent a huge shakeup for the network where, in 2004, then-anchor Dan Rather tried to destroy then-President George W. Bush’s re-election campaign with forged National Guard records.
But Weiss’ approach to the CBS job was already infuriating liberals in the media and media observers.
Rather, for instance, called Weiss’ appointment a “dark day” in the history of CBS News, Fox News reported. Other critics included MSNBC host Chris Hayes, who compared Weiss to Vice President J.D. Vance (an insult in liberal circles).
A former writer and editor in The New York Times opinion section, Weiss left the Gray Lady in 2020, declaring that it had a “hostile work environment” fpr employees who did not embrace extreme leftist views.
After leaving the newspaper, Weiss founded the opinion/news website The Free Press.
Paramount, the parent corporation of CBS, purchased The Free Press in a deal announced Oct. 6. As part of the acquisition, Weiss was named editor in chief of CBS News.
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