January 30, 2026

Earlier this week, Bari Weiss, CBS News’ newly installed editor in chief, told the news division what she called the “honest truth:” “Right now, we are not producing a product that enough people want.”

She was not wrong. Much of what CBS and the rest of the legacy outlets produce is watered down and uninteresting. Yet, the reason for this is not that they are too far to the left, but rather because they’re held captive by corporate owners whose first two commandments are “do not offend” and “treat both sides — regardless of facts — equally.” 

Since she has taken over CBS, Weiss has delivered softball interviews of Trump and his administration, held back hard-hitting pieces from “60 Minutes,” and, most recently, added a group of non-serious right-of-center commentators to the network’s roster.

While ICE agents were terrorizing Minneapolis last Friday, “60 Minutes” dedicated its program to a night at the movies, featuring interviews with Timothée Chalamet and Jamie Lee Curtis. And this week, Weiss’ newly installed “Evening News” anchor, Tony Dokoupil, literally interviewed his own mother. It is no wonder viewers are continuing to flee for the exits.

It’s notable that Weiss’ critique — that they’re not producing a product people want — is a common frustration at other legacy news outlets as well. Last year, for example, the publisher of the Washington Post told his journalists, “People are not reading your stuff, right? I can't sugarcoat it anymore."

Since then, the Washington Post has revamped its opinion page to be more conservative and has cut back on the kind of reporting that made it famous in the Watergate era. As a result, the Post has shrunk in size, subscribers and influence. The culture and product have gotten so bad that reporters have taken to social media to beg the newspaper's billionaire owner not to cut their own jobs.

Meanwhile, a string of CNN leaders has lamented the inevitable demise of cable as an effective technology to deliver news at scale. As current chief, Mark Thompson, recently put it, cable “is no longer an effective platform for reaching much of America.”

Yes, cable is in decline, but this diagnosis ignores the fact that CNN is not succeeding on platforms that are growing, such as streaming. I would suggest that the main reason for CNN’s decline is its content. As Weiss said about her own news division, CNN is “not producing a product that enough people want.”

The reason for that is very simple. Across CNN and the legacy media, their commitment to false neutrality trumps all. As Mark Thompson put it: “I don’t think our job is to be in the center. I think our job is to be out of the ring. It’s more about being fair-minded across the political spectrum and recognizing that the best ideas may come actually from the political edges.”

In stark contrast to this approach, you have a rapidly growing number of independent media outlets that are not beholden to corporate overlords. Unlike the corporate owners of legacy outlets, they don’t care about offending the Trump administration. 

Democracy Docket’s independence from corporate overlords is critical to our DNA. We are free to report the facts and the news as they stand, without capitulating CEOs staining our product. 

The work we do — along with other independent media outlets — is important, but it doesn’t come without risk. Now that Donald Trump has successfully tamed the legacy media, he is turning his ire toward independent journalists. 

Last night, at Pam Bondi’s direction, independent journalist and former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles. Lemon and three others — a local independent journalist and two activists — were taken into custody for covering a protest at a church in Minneapolis. A.k.a., doing their job.

It’s unclear what law Lemon violated. It is not illegal to cover a protest. In fact, the First Amendment of the Constitution protects freedom of the press.

Pam Bondi is sending a clear message: Those who disobey and expose the Trump administration’s crime will be arrested. Those who stand up to their overreach will be targeted. 

Arresting journalists is a common practice in Russia and Egypt and China — countries with dictatorial leaders that Trump has praised and flattered. It’s no surprise that Trump has taken another page out of their book. 

With legacy media outlets falling in line, Trump has to silence the independent reporters spreading the truth. We cannot let him win. 

At Democracy Docket, we will not be intimidated, and we will not back down. We are ready to face this fight against Trump, and we promise to use our voices to tell the truth — no matter the risks. Our country depends on it.