{"id":128384,"date":"2025-09-08T19:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T19:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/128384\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T19:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T19:00:08","slug":"paramount-picks-kenneth-r-weinstein-former-head-of-right-leaning-think-tank-as-ombudsman-for-cbs-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/128384\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount Picks Kenneth R. Weinstein, Former Head Of Right-Leaning Think Tank, As Ombudsman For CBS News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tUPDATED: Paramount<\/a> has tapped Kenneth R. Weinstein, former president and CEO of the Hudson Institute, a right-leaning D.C. think tank, to serve as ombudsman<\/a> for CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tSkydance<\/a> committed to hiring an ombudsman as it sought FCC regulatory approval of its acquisition of Paramount.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn choosing Weinstein, Paramount is selecting someone who will undoubtedly be scrutinized for bias toward the right, given his contributions to Donald Trump\u2019s reelection campaign and the fact that the president, in his first term, nominated him to serve as ambassador to Japan. He will report to Jeff Shell, president of Paramount.<\/p>\n

\n\tPer Paramount, under the ombudsman process, Weinstein will take complaints from consumers, employees and others. He will review them and, if they require action, will raise it to Shell and George Cheeks, chair of TV Media. \u201cAfter assessing the complaint, and if they collectively determine that such outreach is necessary, Weinstein, Shell, and Cheeks will address the complaint with the President and Executive Editor of CBS News, Tom Cibrowski, who will recommend and implement any necessary action steps,\u201d per Paramount.<\/p>\n

\n\tFCC Chairman Brendan Carr praised Skydance\u2019s commitment to hire an ombudsman, suggesting that it would lead to the network embodying \u201ca diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum.\u201d But Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, said that the ombudsman role would essentially be a \u201ccheck\u201d on the news division.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn X on Monday, Gomez wrote, \u201cThe job of this FCC-imposed \u2018truth\u2019 monitor must not be to judge whether independent reporting conforms to this Administration\u2019s views and priorities. That\u2019s a clear violation of the First Amendment and the law. Everyone should be watching their actions closely and urging CBS to find its courage by reclaiming the independence that made it a trusted voice in American journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA Paramount spokesperson said that complaints to the ombudsman will not be made public. One conservative group, the Center for American Rights, has continuously filed complaints with the FCC over alleged bias at CBS and other broadcast networks, and its complaint over the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris is still before the agency. But the FCC says that its authority over broadcast news content is narrow, given the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u00c9ric Zemmour and Ken Weinstein attend Inauguration Eve event hosted by Uber, X and The Free Press at Cafe Riggs on Jan. 19.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Leigh Vogel\/Getty Images for Uber, X and The Free Press<\/p>\n

\n\tA Paramount spokesperson said that Weinstein would not be made available for interviews.<\/p>\n

\n\tShell said in a statement, \u201cAt a time when trust in media is more important than ever, this new role reinforces our commitment to truth, trust, and accountability. I\u2019ve known him for many years and have great respect for his integrity, sound judgment, and thoughtful approach to complex issues. Ken brings not only a wealth of advisory experience in media and beyond but also a calm, measured perspective that makes him exceptionally well-suited to serve as our Ombudsman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWeinstein said, \u201cI am honored to serve as Ombudsman for CBS News, one of the most respected journalistic institutions in the world. I look forward to supporting the talented team behind its reporting and to stewarding public trust in this critical institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Hudson Institute is a think tank that has focused on national security and foreign policy issues, and it generally regarded as leaning to the right. Weinstein chaired the Broadcasting Board of Governors during Trump\u2019s first term, after being nominated to the board by President Barack Obama in 2013. President George W. Bush also tapped him to serve on the National Council for the Humanities. After Trump picked him to serve as U.S. ambassador to Japan in 2020, the nomination never got a confirmation vote in the Senate, and lapsed at the end of Trump\u2019s term. Weinstein also served on Trump\u2019s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations during the first term.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to records from the Federal Election Commission, Weinstein last year donated $20,000 to the Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising committee to boost the GOP and Trump\u2019s efforts to win back the White House. He also gave to related committees, including $6,600 to Never Surrender and $5,000 to Save America. He also gave to the presidential campaigns of Mike Pence and Nikki Haley.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Skydance\/Paramount commitment for an ombudsman is for a period of two years.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Comcast acquired NBCUniversal in 2011, it committed to an ombudsman role, as concerns were raised of the potential for corporate interference in the news division. David McCormick, vice president of standards at NBC News, had already been serving as ombudsman in 1993, and expanded his duties to other NBCU news properties. Kevin Keeshan also was hired to serve as ombudsman for NBC-owned broadcast stations.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut in contrast to the NBCU ombudsman, Weinstein has no experience in working in the day-to-day operations of a news organization. It\u2019s unclear what the repercussions will be if, say, Cibrowski disagrees with the ombudsman\u2019s conclusions and declines to take actions. Newspapers have retained ombudsmen, but they typically have taken on the role of columnist and published their findings on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Paramount announcement follows post-merger complaints from the Trump administration over an edit made to an Aug. 31 Face the Nation interview with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Noem attacked the network<\/a> for leaving out a portion where she said that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was \u201ca known human smuggler, MS-13 gang member, an individual who\u2019s a wife beater, and someone who was so perverted that he solicited nude photos from minors,\u201d among other allegations. Her remark was included in the interview posted online and in the transcript, but what the network edited out were a number of unproven allegations, including that he was an MS-13 gang member.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Friday, CBS News announced a new policy to \u201conly broadcast live or live-to-tape interviews (subject to national security or legal restrictions).\u201d That means the onus will be on the Face the Nation moderator to call out, in real time, false claims or unproven allegations. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis extra measure means the television audience will see the full, unedited interview on CBS and we will continue our practice of posting full transcripts and the unedited video online,\u201d the network said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere also have been reports that Paramount is eyeing a purchase of The Free Press, the site launched by opinion columnist Bari Weiss, including a role at CBS News. The company has not commented on the reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UPDATED: Paramount has tapped Kenneth R. Weinstein, former president and CEO of the Hudson Institute, a right-leaning D.C.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,89600,134,25277,14627,17126,427],"class_list":["post-128384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cbs-news","tag-entertainment","tag-ombudsman","tag-paramount","tag-skydance","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}