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CBS Spin City: Bari Weiss arrives at the Sun Valley Resort for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 05, 2022, in Sun Valley, Idaho
Welcome to the latest edition of Breaker. If this email has been forwarded, you can subscribe here and send your questions and complaints here. If you have a tip, contact the 24/7 Breaker Tip Hotline via text or Signal # 551 655 2343. Anonymity guaranteed!
In tonight’s edition, more fear and loathing at CBS News with one of the most talented producers in television, Shawna Thomas, announcing she is leaving – just the latest big name to depart. We have details on how CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss had wanted to spin Thomas’ departure, as well as who is being eyed to fill the empty chairs on CBS Mornings.
Plus, staffers at The Wall Street Journal curiously circulate a weekend story headlined "The Financial Implications of Having a Relationship With the Boss," and POLITICO makes a poach from NBC News.
And, it’s Thursday, which means Journo Jobs is back. Tonight we have gigs at Reuters, The New York Times, the New York Post, Bloomberg, the LA Times, Variety, and Wired.
Mentioned tonight: Robert Thomson, Emma Tucker, Charles Forelle, Marie Beaudette, Dasha Burns, Kristen Welker, Tom Cibrowski, Josh Elliott, Jacob Soboroff, Amy Robach, Laura Brown, Kristina O’Neill, Kevin Sabbe, Lorne Michaels, Morgan Neville, Tina Fey, Chris Rock, Conan O’Brien, Steve Martin, Peggy Siegal, Ken Li, and more.
Bari The Hatchet
On Thursday morning, CBS Mornings EP Shawna Thomas emailed colleagues to let them know she is leaving the third-placed show and CBS.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while and, frankly, I’m tired, y’all,” Thomas told staffers who would be forgiven for also claiming they were tired of the constant upheaval and dysfunction in their newsroom since Bari Weiss joined as chief booker (sorry editor-in-chief).
Thomas, a respected and highly thought of showrunner, acknowledged in her note that she was happy that Gayle King came to a deal that will see her stay, along with a sizable haircut (for now) at CBS News. That deal is widely viewed internally as a soft landing that can exit King from hosting duties on CBS Mornings while avoiding Weiss, another cycle of bad press that she relies on a conveyor belt of PR consultants to manage.
While CBS was doing its best to spin the situation on Thursday, Breaker has learnt that behind the scenes, Weiss never bothered to…
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⁘ As credited in The New York Times, CNBC, Axios, The New York Post, CNN, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and more.