CBS News Staff ‘Increasingly Concerned’ About Network’s ‘Blatant Hostility’ to Zohran Mamdani’s Israel-Hating Wife

CBS News’ reliably liberal editorial staffers are reportedly deeply concerned after their network provided extensive coverage of the story of how Rama Duwaji, the virulently anti-Israel wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, was exposed to have “liked” posts on Instagram that celebrated the October 7 Hamas terror attack. Last week, CBS News picked up on a report from Jewish Insider about Ms. Duwaji and her social media posts. Jewish Insider reported Ms. Duwaji liked Instagram posts that “unambiguously celebrated” Hamas’ October 7 attack. After that report, CBS News posted a video that said, “CBS News verified that Duwaji ‘liked’ a post from The Slow Factory on October 7, 2023, showing images from the attack, and another from The People’s Forum a day after the attack showing protests in New York City.”The video did not identify the reporter or reporters behind the video. But a journalist for the far-left Status media newsletter, Natalie Korach, reported that the video “focusing on the social media use of the mayor’s wife—who does not hold public office—more than two years ago, struck many as peculiar.”Since the centibillionaire Ellison family acquired CBS’ parent company, Paramount, last year, CBS has been endeavoring a pledge the Ellison’s attorney made in writing to the FCC – that CBS News would provide unbiased news coverage and reflect the views of a wider swath of Americans. This would be a major change for CBS News, which has been routinely accused of liberal bias for at least the last 40 years.Ms. Korach noted that CBS News staffers said they felt the video was “something that might have appeared” in the Free Press, which was founded by the new editor-in-chief of CBS News, Bari Weiss.“Some CBS staffers who spoke to Status on condition of anonymity, expressed growing concern that Weiss—who has been an outspoken supporter of Israel—was making editorial decisions more in line with the type of content published by The Free Press, blurring the ideological lines between the two and fundamentally altering CBS News’ DNA in the process,” Ms. Korach wrote.A “Mamdani confidant” told Status that CBS had displayed a “lack of journalistic integrity, and blatant hostility” toward the mayor’s wife. The far-left news outlet Zeteo News also reported that CBS News staff are livid about their network’s Israel coverage, quoting a “CBS News Insider” saying, “This is Bari’s hardline Zionist wet dream come true.” CBS News did not comment on the stories. In late 2024, CBS News was consumed by allegations of blatant anti-Israel bias. The Free Press obtained internal CBS News documents from its standards and practices unit that warned staffers against referring to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and also warning them not to refer to Hamas members as “terrorists.” Around the same time, a then-co-host of “CBS Mornings,” Tony Dokoupil, was reprimanded for his tone during his questioning of the virulently anti-Israel author Ta-Nehisi Coates. CBS News’ flagship program, “60 Minutes,” was also criticized for two segments about the Gaza war that were criticized as one-sided and disrespectful to Israeli hostages. The then-chairwoman of Paramount, Shari Redstone, expressed frustration with an anti-Israel bias at CBS News and said that factored into her decision to sell the company to the Ellisons, who are strong supporters of Israel. Ms. Redstone told the New York Times last year that she was bothered by an anti-Israel slant in the network’s coverage of the war against Hamas and that she hoped Mr. Ellison would be able to shift the network’s editorial voice. While Ms. Korach said CBS News staffers are concerned that the video about Ms. Duwaji was a sign of the Free Press having more influence over the network, CBS News was reportedly not the only mainstream outlet that was interested in the matter.The Free Press’s Olivia Reingold reported that CNN had invited her to participate in a “debate” about Ms. Duwaji’s post, but she said it was canceled. Ms. Reingold argued that Ms. Duwaji’s social media activity is newsworthy because of who she is married to and asked if the mayor agrees with his wife’s views. To bolster her point, Ms. Reingold noted that establishment media outlets published a “zillion” articles about the political views of the wife of Justice Samuel Alito, and journalists questioned if he shared her views.

CBS News Staff ‘Increasingly Concerned’ About Network’s ‘Blatant Hostility’ to Zohran Mamdani’s Israel-Hating Wife

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