FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 5, 2025
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
CODEPINK Chicago Disrupts Free Press Event, Condemns Bari Weiss’s Role in Spreading Genocide-Denial Propaganda
CHICAGO – Today, activists with CODEPINK Chicago staged a disruption during a FIRE x The Free Press event featuring CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss at the Studebaker Theater.
As Weiss moderated a discussion between rape-apologist Alan Dershowitz and gun-violence supporter Dana Loesch, a protestor called out Weiss for her untruthful journalism regarding Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The action was a direct response to the recent acquisition of Weiss’s media company, The Free Press, by Paramount, as well as appointing Weiss as CBS’s editor in chief, also overseen by Paramount.
“We were there to sound the alarm on a dangerous merger between mainstream media and proven propagandists,” said Jenin CODEPINK Palestine campaign organizer. “Bari Weiss has cultivated The Free Press into a platform for anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim rhetoric, actively demeaning and dehumanizing a people facing a documented genocide. For CBS to install her as an editor-in-chief is an abdication of journalistic integrity and a betrayal of the public trust.”
The group accuses The Free Press and Weiss of being genocide-deniers, pointing to the publication's dismissal of the term "genocide" for the situation in Gaza as an "ideological slur."
“When media outlets like The Free Press frame a deliberate starvation campaign as a debatable topic, they are not just being inaccurate—they are complicit in the violence,” the spokesperson continued. “This is not neutral reporting; it is a reactionary echo chamber that has real-world consequences.”
Most notable is Weiss’s past commentary on the late Palestinian poet and scholar Dr. Refaat Alareer, where her public smears contributed to a climate that led to his murder.
The acquisition of The Free Press by CBS/Paramount is a monopolistic move that paves the way for more dishonest and biased media, directly importing Israeli state propaganda into a major American news network.
“When media outlets like The Free Press frame a deliberate starvation campaign as a debatable topic, they are not just being inaccurate—they are complicit in the violence. This is not neutral reporting; it is a reactionary echo chamber that has real-world consequences. CBS has a duty to report facts, not platform bigotry and genocide denial,” Jenin continued. “By embracing Bari Weiss and The Free Press, CBS and Paramount are cementing their place in history as tools of war and oppression. We will continue to protest this dangerous alliance at every turn,” Jenin concluded.
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