A previously unreported internal spat at CBS News over “adopting terminology advocated” by an ideologically driven group shows what Bari Weiss is up against in course correcting the network.
“There is blood in the water.”
Since Weiss was named editor-in-chief of CBS News, the gnashing of teeth by leftists at the network has been undeniable. Amid pushback over a “spiked” report on the president’s deportations and lamentations over plans to abide by “five simple principles,” a new report detailed a clash between a producer and a correspondent over a memo on language used in stories about “trans people.”
According to the report from The Guardian that focused on insider disfavor for Weiss, including intent by former CBS News journalists to send a letter to parent company Paramount Skydance’s CEO David Ellison about her pulling the segment about deportations to an El Salvador prison, a Nov. 6, 2025 email from a correspondent told staff the network “should refrain from adopting terminology advocated by the [Trans Journalist Association].”
The TJA describes its style guide as advising on how to “improve news coverage of trans people and the stories that affect them,” urging reports to use gender ideologues’ self-identification and language conforming to their beliefs, like “assigned sex at birth.” The memo garnered a miffed response from one producer who opted to reply to all recipients of the email by writing, “It’s a TJA style ‘guide’ — that’s what I’m trying to do. Guide us to better coverage.”
Following the report, Semafor detailed that the correspondent behind the memo steering away from the gender ideology guidance was CBS News national and legal correspondent Jan Crawford.
The CBS correspondent who suggested in an internal note that the network “should refrain from adopting terminology” from the Trans Journalists Association stylebook here was Jan Crawford, I’m told pic.twitter.com/keGpLdXJcZ
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) January 5, 2026
“There is blood in the water,” contended one CBS News journalist anonymously to The Guardian, while a staffer was quoted as saying, “We are a prideful newsroom, and she’s rubbing people the wrong way.”
“I’m constantly confused by what her definition of ‘making news’ is,” said another. “It seems like she only cares about big names saying controversial things. That’s not the same as newsworthiness.”
Reacting to the report on the memo, Weiss said in statement to the New York Post, “Let’s start with something that should be obvious: Journalists deal in words, so it is perfectly normal for a newsroom to discuss, debate and, yes, even disagree about language. Happens all the time.”
CBS News is “a news organization that speaks plainly and clearly to its audience,” she went on. “Our audience is well aware of what biological sex is. There is no need to put it in quotation marks as if it’s an alien dialect or an obscure technicality.”
The TJA argued, “The guide is meant to provide a foundation for covering trans people with accuracy and nuance, and it addresses many common language and reporting difficulties.”
“But it is by no means comprehensive: The English lexicon of gender, sex, and sexuality is dynamic and constantly contested,” added the association.
Meanwhile, as ideologues bristled internally, the report about the memo was met with support on social media. As The Federalist CEO Sean Davis put it, “So there’s only one sane person at CBS is what you’re saying? Good for Jan Crawford.”
So there’s only one sane person at CBS is what you’re saying? Good for Jan Crawford. https://t.co/rHheczZD6h
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 6, 2026
Is she the only real journalist there?
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) January 6, 2026
It’s gonna be a tough fight uphill in the snow to get the liberals out of the cbs news coverage. Weiss is taking a job I wouldn’t want no matter how much you paid me.
— Brian Kenner (@BrianKenner) January 6, 2026
These are NOT “news” people. These are Democrat activists who abuse the power of the media to promote their Party’s goals.
— Liz (@Liz447431) January 7, 2026
Imagine that, someone at CBS who believes in real journalism and not appeasing the woke Democrat party.
— Tiffany (@tiffanylloree) January 6, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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