**CBS News Lays Off Most of Its Climate Crisis Production Staff Amid Leadership Changes**
CBS News recently announced the dismissal of most of its climate crisis production team as part of broader layoffs affecting dozens of news staff members last week. Under the leadership of the new Editor-in-Chief, Bari Weiss, the network appears to be scaling back its dedicated climate crisis coverage.
Tracy Wholf, the coordinating producer of the climate crisis unit, was among those let go. Reports suggest that without Wholf, the climate unit has effectively been disbanded. Wholf’s departure followed an internal email she sent advocating for the inclusion of climate change context in reports about Hurricane Melissa. She had recommended adding a sentence linking the storm’s rapid intensification to climate change: “The above-average Atlantic Ocean temperatures, made worse by climate change, helped Melissa rapidly intensify into a category 5 storm.” Wholf cited research from Imperial College as support for this assertion.
In addition to changes in the climate coverage team, CBS News also dismantled its race and culture unit. This move led to accusations of discrimination from former employees. Trey Sherman, an associate producer in the race and culture unit who was laid off, stated, “Every producer on my team who got laid off is a person of color. Every person who gets to stay and will be relocated within the company is a white person.”
The network’s new owners, Charles and Louis Ellison, have expressed a commitment to restoring “real journalism” and delivering accurate, unbiased reporting without racial or political agendas.
Commenting on these developments, Charles Rotter of the “Watts Up With That” blog emphasized the importance of returning to traditional journalistic standards. He noted that reporters once clearly distinguished between evidence and opinion, data and doctrine. Today, however, many reporters appear to defend predetermined narratives rather than investigate the truth. Rotter suggests that CBS’s shift away from this mindset could mark a return to sanity in journalism. Environmental issues may still be covered, but ideally without assuming predetermined conclusions.
As these changes unfold, viewers may soon encounter weather reports and environmental coverage that focus on facts rather than politicized messaging.
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**About Bari Weiss**
Bari Weiss has garnered attention not only for her editorial decisions but also for her strong public stance on various issues. Known for her pro-Israel views, she has faced ongoing threats, reflecting the contentious environment surrounding media and politics today.
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**Reflections on Current Times**
The evolving media landscape and societal tensions have sparked thoughtful commentary from various voices:
> “I have never written that there is a threat of fascism in America. I always considered the idea overwrought. But now I believe there really is such a threat and it will come draped not in an American flag, but in the name of tolerance and health.”
> — Dennis Prager
> “It’s better to live one day as a lion than a dozen years as a sheep.”
> — Charles M. Schulz
> “How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”
> — Ronald Reagan
> “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”
> — Hannah Arendt, *The Origins of Totalitarianism*
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As CBS News navigates these changes, the hope among many is for a renewed focus on fact-based, unbiased journalism that serves the public interest without advancing particular ideological narratives.
https://www.independentsentinel.com/cbss-bari-weiss-fires-its-climate-crisis-race-culture-hysteria-units/