Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, does Zohran Mamdani need to take the threat of “Barstool conservatism” seriously ahead of his next mayoral election? Also, Anderson Cooper just can’t seem to get away from Bari Weiss, and NPR really steps in it over a botched Supreme Court story.

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‘El Presidente’ for NYC Mayor?

Amid the current political freakout (from MAGA and establishment Democrats) over Zohran Mamdani’s role as kingmaker as anti-war progressives and democratic socialists rack up primary victories, the New York City mayor suddenly found himself a potential new challenger for 2029.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, we look at how Trump’s ‘Fox News Cabinet’ is bent out of shape over the president “capitulating” to Iran and turning its back on Israel. Plus, is Tony Dokoupil trying to rehab his image by distancing himself from Bari Weiss? Also, what does the CBS News ombudsman actually DO at the network?

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Turning on Trump?

Donald Trump’s ‘Fox News Cabinet,’ which gleefully pushed the administration to join Israel in launching its doomed and illegal war against Iran, is now beside itself that the president is desperately backing out of the fight by signing a “weak” peace agreement that reveals without a shred of doubt that the United States lost.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In today’s edition, we dig into Bari Weiss’s latest big hire at CBS News – and the allegations of Islamophobia that have followed him throughout his UK broadcasting and political career. Also, is woke algae ruining Trump’s big, beautiful reflecting pool? And how are the MAGA hawks at Fox dealing with Trump’s supposed Iran peace deal?

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Bari’s Latest Hire Is on Brand

“No, don’t try that one on me!” Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips dismissively sneered at UK Green Party leader Zack Polanski last month during an extremely contentious interview.

That contemptuous response came after Polanski, the only Jewish party leader in the UK, as well as the only leader who is outspoken against the genocide in Gaza, wondered why his “Jewish identity [was] being erased from this conversation” as Phillips continuously twisted the left-wing politician’s previous remarks about the threat of antisemitism in the UK.

Polanski noted that many Jews – such as himself – do not feel that pro-Palestinian rallies should be perceived as unsafe hate marches, while acknowledging that attacks on Jewish sites and people in Britain are on the rise. But Phillips chose to ignore and even belittle Polanski’s personal experiences and feelings on the matter. Even when the progressive leader brought up his own recent brushes with antisemitism.

Five weeks after Phillips “monstered” Polanski on air, as Zeteo’s own Owen Jones observed in a recent column in The Guardian, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss announced that the longtime British broadcaster and political figure had been hired as her network’s senior global affairs correspondent.

“Trevor Phillips cuts through the noise. His decades-long career is a masterclass in seeing beyond groupthink and pursuing the truth,” Weiss said in a statement about his hiring, noting that his reporting will appear on all of CBS News’s programming. “Trevor’s deep knowledge of geopolitics and history will be an incredible asset at CBS News, where he’ll quickly become an indispensable voice for audiences across all platforms.”

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Following the five-alarm fire she set at the network in recent weeks with her “Black Thursday” firings at ‘60 Minutes,’ which has sparked growing murmurs that Weiss could be demoted ahead of the CNN-CBS News merger, one wonders why her next big move was to hire a 72-year-old opinion host unfamiliar to American viewers. (At the very least, it doesn’t seem like this will move the needle with younger audiences, which Weiss’s digital-first strategy was supposed to appeal to.)

“I guess I’d be looking at what correspondent work he had done before. He is a presenter. That’s different,” one former CBS foreign bureau staffer told me.

Of course, with Weiss – a former New York Times opinion columnist and founder of the anti-woke blog The Free Press – seeing herself as a heterodox thought leader, it doesn’t take much digging to see exactly why Phillips appeals to her.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, we bring you a scoop about a story that Cecila Vega was working on for ‘60 Minutes’ when she was fired. Plus: David Ellison and Co. try to put out Bari Weiss’s fires, who is (or isn’t) watching Stephen Colbert’s replacement, and Fox soothes Trump’s fragile ego after the Madison Square Garden boos.

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Why Was Cecilia Vega Fired?

One of the stories that Cecilia Vega had lined up for the upcoming season of ‘60 Minutes’ when she was unceremoniously fired by Bari Weiss, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, was a profile on Francesca Albanese – the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In today’s special edition, we dive into the five-alarm fire that is the current state of ‘60 Minutes’ and CBS News after Scott Pelley was ousted for dressing down Bari Weiss’s handpicked executive producer of the show while accusing her of “murdering” the network. Strap in for a slew of exclusive details and insights about this latest Bari trainwreck…

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The Scott Pelley Fallout

“I’m not answering that question.”

That’s what Scott Pelley says Bari Weiss told him during Tuesday night’s acrimonious meeting, which saw the veteran correspondent get summarily fired, when he pressed her on why she had terminated the senior staff of ‘60 Minutes.’

The ousting of Pelley from ‘60 Minutes,’ as insiders tell me, appears to serve as the depressing climax of Bari Weiss’s reign of terror over CBS News, which has seen the “anti-woke crusader” and her “band of moronic misfits” run roughshod over the Tiffany Network in her attempt to bend the news organization to its knees.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, we reveal how Stephen Colbert made Bari Weiss furious on his way out the door, CBS News ghosts one of its top reporters, and The Free Press is offering its readers branded trips with their favorite writers. Also, if a right-wing podcast launches and no one listens, does it even exist? And whatever happened to that rescheduled WHCD? Let’s hop in…

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Bari Can’t Take a Joke

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss was “incandescent” with rage over Stephen Colbert’s recent mockery of her and Tony Dokoupil, prompting the network’s leadership to direct ‘CBS Mornings’ to ignore the final episode of ‘The Late Show,’ sources told Zeteo.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, speculation that Bari Weiss’s role will be scaled back has reached a fever pitch. So, who could lead a combined CNN-CBS if not Bari? Also, Fox’s coverage of the San Diego mosque shooting sparks internal criticism, and Jeff Bezos has thoughts on ‘Melania.’

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Is Weiss About to be Bari-ed?

In just seven short months at the helm of CBS News, Bari Weiss is already hearing the rumors rumbling in the background that she could see her role significantly scaled back just as Paramount is readying itself to add CNN to the mix.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, Bari Weiss defers to Bibi and allows him to choose who interviews him, major changes are coming to CBS’s storied newsmagazine ‘60 Minutes,’ and the New York Times actually stands up to a pro-Israel pressure campaign.

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Major Problems for ‘60 Minutes’

“Thank you, Bari Weiss.”

That was the message delivered by Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States, following CBS News’s mostly deferential interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Oren was positively thrilled that the network, which is led by the self-avowed “Zionist fanatic” Weiss, appropriated Israeli talking points throughout the interview.

Meanwhile, we have since learned that Major Garrett – the veteran reporter who was tapped to conduct the exclusive sitdown – was Netanyahu’s preferred choice, and drew the assignment after a “negotiation” between Weiss and the prime minister.

As for Garrett, this was the second time in the past couple of months that the CBS News editor-in-chief chose him to handle a high-profile interview that would air on ‘60 Minutes,’ even though Garrett isn’t a correspondent for the iconic newsmagazine.

The decision to fly Garrett, the network’s chief Washington correspondent, to Israel late last week to sit down with Netanyahu is not sitting well with the staff of the Sunday night program.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, I devote the bulk of the newsletter to a ‘CBS News Sunday Morning’ story about the West Bank that sparked outrage from one of its interview subjects – and how Bari Weiss fits in all of this. Also, Donald Trump weighs in on the passing of Ted Turner – and gets everything wrong.

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Has Bari Weiss Found Another CBS News Institution to Meddle With?

“I am deeply troubled by my portrayal and the omission of key facts in the segment in which I participated in good faith,” Zaid Azhari, in a message reviewed by Zeteo, wrote to CBS News producer Sari Aviv last month.

A cultural heritage researcher and leader of the “Save Sebastia Campaign,” Azhari was upset over a ‘CBS News Sunday Morning’ story that aired on April 5 and centered on the political turmoil surrounding Israeli archeological digs in the occupied West Bank, asserting that his interview for the piece was “selectively edited to falsely portray me as someone who erases Jewish history.”

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According to four sources, the report was subjected to last-minute edits and script changes by self-avowed “Zionist fanatic” Bari Weiss, the CBS editor-in-chief who has made sweeping changes at the network since her hiring last fall. The story had been in the works for months, and prior to Weiss joining CBS.

“We aim to inform audiences, not satisfy story subjects. That’s what this piece did. We encourage everyone to watch it and judge for themselves,” a CBS News spokesperson said in a statement.

“Oh yeah, she definitely meddled,” one CBS News senior staffer told me, while other sources noted that this represented a new front in Weiss’s editorial “interference” at the network.

“Bari found out about the story and made changes to the script. She has never jumped in editorially on a ‘Sunday Morning’ story until this one,” one CBS insider said, while a network reporter noted that “this piece is the first time she’s pulled like a CECOT on the show.”

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, we take a behind-the-scenes look at how Bari Weiss blew up CBS News’ international news coverage. Plus, another prominent news outlet is telling its staffers to love Israel or leave. Also, is Disney showing some backbone during Kimmelgate 2.0, and where does Trump’s America rank in terms of press freedom?

On top of that, if you haven’t already, please check out my deep-dive profile on the face of Bari’s CBS – Tony Dokoupil. I spoke to a lot of people for it!

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Blindsided by Bari

Earlier this week, CBS News staffers were shocked to learn that well-respected London bureau chief Claire Day – who has spent nearly 25 years with the network – was leaving the company at the end of the month amid a broad editorial restructuring of CBS’s international coverage.

While network president Tom Cibrowski claimed in a memo to staff that Day’s departure had been a mutual decision, both the New York Post and Status quickly reported that she had effectively been “ousted” from her role following simmering tensions with editor-in-chief Bari Weiss over the bureau’s Middle East coverage.

The Post, specifically, noted that an unnamed freelance cameraman and editor had accused Day of running the bureau like a “Hamas cell,” while Status reported that Weiss – a self-avowed “Zionist fanatic” – at one point griped that London was so biased against Israel that “they might as well be Hamas.”

Speaking to several CBS sources, I’ve since learned that Weiss may have gained some of her perception about Day’s supposed anti-Israel bias from her conversations with Cameron Stewart, a freelance cameraman who has been working out of CBS News’ London bureau since late 2019.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex. In tonight’s edition, we take a deep dive into Tucker Carlson’s mea culpa for “misleading people” into voting for Trump – and why progressives shouldn’t just take it at face value. Plus, we ask: with Trump’s approval numbers sinking to new lows, is it just a matter of time before Fox abandons him?

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Should the Left Embrace Tucker the ‘Tormented’?

You do not, under any circumstances, got to hand it to Tucker Carlson.

The former Fox star has increasingly drawn plaudits from progressives for his “credible anti-war voice” and outspoken criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, resulting in Donald Trump unceremoniously excommunicating his one-time close ally and adviser from MAGA.

With Democratic lawmakers talking up a potential bipartisan alliance that would feature Carlson, the far-right pundit sparked even more applause from the left when he issued an apology for “misleading people” with his past advocacy for Trump.

“You know, we’ll be tormented by it for a long time – I will be… It was not intentional,” Carlson declared at the tail-end of a two-plus-hour podcast conversation with his brother, former Trump speechwriter Buckley Carlson, whom he colloquially referred to as “Uncle Buck.”

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“You and I and everyone else who supported him – you wrote speeches for him, I campaigned for him – I mean, we’re implicated in this for sure,” Tucker Carlson said. “It’s not enough to say, ‘Well, I changed my mind’ – or like, ‘Oh, this is bad – I’m out.’”

To be certain, Tucker’s explicit condemnation of Trump’s illegal war against Iran and Israel’s genocidal violence against Palestinians should be commended. It is clearly a good thing, and we can only hope that more on the right follow his lead on these particular issues.

However, I watched the entire two-plus-hour conversation, and it was readily apparent that the two had become disenchanted with Trump precisely because they believed he wasn’t extreme and fascistic enough, and they felt the president didn’t make good on his vows of retribution against liberals and Democrats.

Besides drawing copious headlines that hyped his mea culpa for helping Trump get elected, prominent left-wing personalities praised Carlson. Even Mehdi – who also complimented Carlson recently for challenging an interviewer to define the phrase “Israel’s right to exist” – briefly gave Carlson some kudos. That is, until he listened to the rest of the conversation that took place between the two ultra-conservative brothers.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex. In tonight’s edition, we take an inside look at how the MAGA grifting class truly operates – and what they really worship, a scandal in the world of media newsletters, and the violent racism directed towards a progressive congressional candidate because he had the audacity to speak another language.

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Inside the Cult of MAGA Grifters

For one brief moment this week, it seemed that Donald Trump’s deranged behavior had finally reached a point where even his most diehard loyalists in the MAGA media ecosystem couldn’t stand behind him.

That blowback, of course, was short-lived and quickly replaced by praise for the president. And with the conservative attention economy showing the need for pro-Trump grifters to stay in their MAGA lane to keep the dollars flowing, we have someone who was deep inside that bubble spilling the tea on how this exactly works.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, we take issue with the establishment press delivering a collective shrug at the president’s increasingly deranged threats towards free speech – while they simultaneously prepare to “honor” him. Plus, we look into who Bari Weiss is wining and dining, and share the world’s worst history lesson delivered by Trump’s Fox brain trust.

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Trump Ramps Up His War on the Press

Within the span of roughly 30 hours, Donald Trump threatened to jail journalists if they didn’t burn their confidential sources and accused a news network of criminal conduct for publishing an accurate public statement. And in both cases, he called for the feds to criminally investigate media outlets.

Yet, despite the media-bashing president ramping up his already white-hot incitement towards the fourth estate to new levels, the White House press corps tasked to cover him has delivered a collective shrug.

And all the while, the elite political media class is prepping to spend a night publicly feting this man during a lavish party. But don’t worry, because in an act of unparalleled bravery, they’ll make sure to show the president their defiant support for the First Amendment by wearing matching accessories.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, we dig into how Jake Tapper taking on Hasan Piker is making many wonder if the CNN anchor is pandering to his soon-to-be new bosses. Plus, Donald Trump thinks a Bush-era neocon is “Brilliant” and CBS News is doing all white.

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Tapper ‘Auditioning to be CNN’s Dokoupil’

Three weeks after drawing the ire of progressives for targeting Zohran Mamdani and his wife for hosting pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, CNN star Jake Tapper is once again under fire for taking aim at a left-wing critic of Israel and painting that person as antisemitic.

In this instance, Tapper’s target is popular progressive streamer Hasan Piker, who has suddenly found himself the focus of a cancellation campaign by centrist groups and right-wing Jewish publications looking to marginalize his influence in upcoming Democratic primaries.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest dispatches from Bari World and the right-wing industrial outrage complex. In today’s edition, I cover how Pete Hegseth has a new favorite network – and it’s not his old stomping grounds, the influence Fox has had on the growing acceptance of a neo-Nazi conspiracy theory, an “idiot” trying to stop the latest Serial podcast, and independent journalism stepping up to the plate on long-form reporting.

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Hegseth’s New Favorite Channel

Ever since news outlets – including Fox and Newsmax – were nearly unanimous in rejecting the Pentagon’s loyalty pledge last fall, which prompted dozens of journalists to walk out en masse, these organizations have refused to bring on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for interviews.

All but one, that is.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest dispatches from Bari World and the right-wing industrial outrage complex. In tonight’s edition, I’ve got a scoop on Paramount axing a panel discussion about Gaza from the perspective of Arab Americans. Plus, we look at how the New York Times is “sanewashing” the president’s unhinged ramblings – again; and the ridiculous spin that CBS News is giving Tony Dokoupil’s ratings crash.

Let’s jump in.

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Paramount Canceled Arab-American Gaza Panel at the Last Minute

CBS owner Paramount squashed an internal panel discussion on the Arab-American experience amid the Gaza war that featured designer and prominent pro-Palestine activist Alana Hadid – all while holding multiple pro-Israel sessions, Ragebait has learned.

Among the three separate sessions Paramount held at its annual global Inclusion Week in October 2024 that focused on antisemitism was an in-depth panel by Israeli-flag-waving CBS reporter Jonah Kaplan and featuring pro-Israel self-proclaimed “MAGA lefty” provocateur Batya Ungar-Sargon.

This all occurred just two weeks after Paramount’s owner rallied to the defense of Tony Dokoupil for outrageously painting Ta-Nehisi Coates as a terror-sympathizing extremist over the celebrated author’s sympathetic stance towards Palestine.

Based on my conversations with five former and current Paramount employees, as well as a review of communications and documents that I obtained, I’ve learned that the company’s Office of Global Inclusion (OGI) – which has since been disbanded as part of Paramount’s anti-DEI pledge to the Trump administration – nixed the Arab-American discussion on Gaza less than two days before it was scheduled to take place.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest media dispatches from the right-wing industrial outrage complex and Bari World. In tonight’s edition, we dig into how Sean Hannity and the “Fox News cabinet” helped push the United States into another Middle Eastern quagmire, whether Jake Tapper is already giving future CNN owners the Ellisons what they want, and Bari Weiss losing yet another high-profile journalist from CBS.

Before we hop in, I have one small request! Today is the last day we’re sending ‘Ragebait’ to all Zeteo subscribers. To ensure you get my media scoops every week, make sure you’re signed up to get ‘Ragebait’ by going to ‘manage subscription’ in your Substack account, scrolling down, and toggling the button for ‘Ragebait’ on. And ensure you’re a paid subscriber to get past the paywall!

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Hannity, Trump’s Shadow Chief of Staff, Gets His War

Eight months after Donald Trump boasted that he had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, the president launched an illegal war of aggression to “ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.”

With much of the president’s “America First” base warning him against setting off another Middle Eastern conflict, who exactly convinced Trump to take action? Who did Trump turn to in order to justify jumping into this deeply unpopular decision?

Well, look no further than the president’s “Fox News cabinet” and his White House shadow chief of staff – Sean Hannity.

One of cable news’s biggest Iraq War hawks, who has since spent the past few years cheerleading Israel’s war on Gaza, Hannity recently devoted much of his energy to laying the groundwork for a full-scale attack on Iran.

“It’s not surprising that Hannity, who was the network’s biggest cheerleader for the Iraq war, is bloodthirsty for another pointless, disastrous war,” one Fox insider told me. “This is a man who praised waterboarding and volunteered to do it for the troops, only to never follow through on it.”

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A longtime proponent of military action against Iran, the shameless Trump sycophant began making the case for regime change weeks before the president ordered strikes on Iran – insisting it was necessary to stop the country’s nuclear program that Trump had supposedly already destroyed.

While Hannity had previously parroted Trump’s claims that Iran’s nuclear ambitions “are officially dead” and that the regime “has been totally defanged” back in June, he told Iran’s leaders last month that the “clock is now ticking” because they refused to give up their nuclear program.

“I do have a little advice for the radical leaders in Iran,” Hannity declared on his Feb. 18 broadcast. “You may want to get on that plane to Russia sooner than you think – sooner than later. Now would be a good time.”

The full-court press that Hannity and his Fox cohorts were delivering on air obviously had its intended effect on our cable news-obsessed president, based on what Zeteo’s senior political correspondent Asawin “Swin” Suebsaeng has heard from his well-placed Trumpland sources. Let me turn it over to Swin real quick:

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest dispatches from Bari World and the right-wing industrial outrage complex. In tonight’s edition, we take a look at how CBS News is covering the Iran war under the direction of Bari Weiss. Plus, CNN’s resident MAGA defender Scott Jennings is driving his colleagues nuts while kissing up to his future boss; Fox is manufacturing consent for another Middle East war; and Gayle King is going “all in” on Bari.

We’re still sending ‘Ragebait’ to all Zeteo subscribers, but we won’t do so for long. To ensure you get my media scoops every week, make sure you’re signed up to get ‘Ragebait’ by going to ‘manage subscription’ in your Substack account, scrolling down, and toggling the button for ‘Ragebait’ on. And ensure you’re a paid subscriber to get past the paywall! Let’s jump in.

‘Bari’s Hardline Zionist Wet Dream’

“Buckle up. Propaganda-palooza,” one CBS News staffer told me after the network announced that it had deployed Tony Dokoupil to the Middle East this week to anchor ‘CBS Evening News’ as Donald Trump’s aggressive war of choice with Iran escalated.

The fact of the matter, though, is that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss had made sure that would be the case well before Dokoupil – the pro-Israeli talking head she installed to lead the network’s flagship nightly news broadcast – made his way to Tel Aviv.

“This is Bari’s hardline Zionist wet dream come true,” a CBS News insider snarked to Zeteo.

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Justin Baragona here, bringing you the latest dispatches from Bari World and the right-wing industrial outrage complex. In tonight’s edition, we profile the newest CBS News correspondent and what he has in common with Bari Weiss, Sean Hannity’s engagement with a bit of stolen valor, Fox doing its level best to spin Trump’s long and boring State of the Union, and what CBS staffers think about the Peter Attia saga.

For the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sending ‘Ragebait’ to all Zeteo subscribers. But to ensure you get my media scoops every week, make sure you’re signed up to get ‘Ragebait’ by going to ‘manage subscription’ in your Substack account, scrolling down, and toggling the button for ‘Ragebait’ on. And ensure you’re a paid subscriber to get past the paywall! Let’s jump in.

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The ‘We Love Israel’ Network

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I am delighted to welcome Justin Baragona and his ‘Ragebait’ media newsletter back to Zeteo, and to your inboxes, this time on a weekly basis. For those who aren’t familiar, Justin was with Zeteo before decamping for The Independent, where he was a scoop machine on all sorts of media stories - but especially CBS and Bari Weiss and Donald Trump stories. Justin’s back with us now, and you can catch his exclusive reporting and analysis every Wednesday evening.

For the next few weeks, we’ll be sending ‘Ragebait’ to all Zeteo subscribers. But to ensure you get Justin’s media scoops every week, make sure you’re signed up to get ‘Ragebait’ by going to ‘manage subscription’ in your Substack account, scrolling down, and toggling the button for ‘Ragebait’ on. Oh, and please make sure you’re a paid Zeteo subscriber so you can read past the paywall and support independent journalism!

-Mehdi

Behind the Scenes of Bari Weiss’s Blunder

Months after Bari Weiss desperately courted Anderson Cooper to be the face of ‘CBS Evening News,’ Cooper essentially gave the anti-woke CBS News editor-in-chief the middle finger as he decided to ditch his 20-year run as a ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent.

“It really has to sting for Bari,” a senior CBS News staffer told ‘Ragebait.’ “The person she wanted for the Evening News anchor chair is choosing to leave CBS altogether because of her.”

In fact, according to the same staffer, Cooper’s decision not to return to ‘60 Minutes’ after this season ends was akin to “a ‘fuck you’ to Bari.”

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A CNN mainstay who recently re-upped his contract with the cable news network, Cooper declined to accept CBS News’s latest renewal offer to continue serving as a correspondent for the network’s venerable newsmagazine, as first reported by Breaker’s Lachlan Cartwright.

Though both CBS News and Cooper said all the right things in their official statements on his departure, with the anchor citing his work-life balance and commitments to CNN as the driving force behind his decision while CBS said “60 Minutes will be here if he ever wants to return,” it was clear that something else was at play to cause him to tell the Tiffany Network sayonara.

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