CBS ombudsman Kenneth Weinstein “will serve as an independent, internal advocate for journalistic integrity and transparency, reviewing concerns raised by employees and viewers, addressing questions about news coverage, and upholding the organization’s longstanding commitment to accuracy and accountability,” Paramount announced at the time of his appointment in September.
A month later, in an opening memo to CBS journalists, newly minted editor-in-chief Bari Weiss detailed her commitment to ethical journalism. It includes, among other points, the following:
Journalism that respects our audience enough to tell the truth plainly—wherever it leads.
Journalism that rushes toward the most interesting and important stories, regardless of their unpopularity.
Journalism that understands that the best way to serve America is to endeavor to present the public with the facts, first and foremost.
A Jan. 25 “Face the Nation” broadcast, with its inaccurate and grossly misleading reporting on journalists killed in the Gaza Strip, puts the new leadership and their lofty promises to the test.
In the broadcast, “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan erred: “The Committee to Protect Journalists says more than 250 media workers have been killed in Gaza since the October 7th attacks.”
Brennan significantly overstated CPJ’s tally. In fact, the CPJ reports:
As of January 6, 2026, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 252 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Israel, and Iran since the Israel-Gaza war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.
In other words, the figure over “more than 250 media workers” reflects those killed not just in Gaza, but also in Yemen, Lebanon, Israel and Iran. CPJ then provides a geographic breakdown, identifying 209 of those it calls Palestinian media workers killed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Moreover, CPJ’s list of “media workers” includes countless operatives working for the propaganda arms of various designated terror groups including Hamas (Al Quds, Quds News Network, Al-Aqsa TV, Al Risala and Falasteen); Islamic Jihad (Al Quds Al Youm) and Hezbollah (Al Mayadeen). In other words, they were propaganda operatives for a designated terror organization. In many cases, CPJ itself often helpfully lists these affiliations.
According to CPJ’s own records, those affiliated with Al Quds include Hamada Al-Yaziji, Hassan Farajallah, Hassan Samour, Islam Abed, Mohamed El Sayed Abu Skheil, Mohamed Nabil Al-Zaq and Tarek El Sayed Abu Skheil.
Again, according to CPJ, the robust Al-Aqsa contingent includes Abdelhalim Awad, Ahmed Abu Mhadi, Amro Salah Abu Hayah, Duaa Sharaf, Issam Bhar, Iyad El-Ruwagh, Iyad Matar, Khalil Abu Aathra, Mamdouh Qanita, Mohamad Al-Bayyari, Mohamed Adel Abu Skheil, Mohamed Khalifeh, Mohamed Meshmesh, Mohammed Al-Tanani, Mostafa Bakeer, Muhammad Salama, Saed Al-Halabi, Saed Radwan, Sameeh Al-Nady, Yahya Abu Manih and Husam Mubarak.
Other affiliated Hamas “media workers” on CPJ’s list include Mohammed Abu Jasser and Mohammed Imad Labad (Al Risala), Mohammed Imad al-Sultan (Falasteen) and Bahaaddine Yassine (Quds News Network).
Islamic Jihad also is well represented. By CPJ’s own telling, Al Quds Al Youm Islamic Jihad Adam Abu Harbid, Ahmed Khaireddine, Ayman Al Gedi, Bilal Rajab, Fadi Hassouna, Faisal Abu Al Qumsan, Hussam al-Dabbaka, Ibrahim Sheikh Ali, Jabr Abu Hadrous, Mahdi Al-Mamluk, Mohamed Jamal Sobhi Al-Thalathini, Mohammed Al-Ladaa, Mohammed Al-Sakani, Mohammed Alaa Al-Sawalhi and Salem Abu Toyour.
Terror organization Hezbollah, too, appears in the list, with “media worker” Ayman Al-Rafati (Al Mayadeen).
This is hardly an exhaustive list of terror-linked “media workers” appearing in CPJ’s data. Beyond the dozens of aforementioned individuals, a CAMERA Arabic analysis of CPJ data uncovered at least 16 additional “media workers” who were either mourned by their families and friends as combatants (usually “Jihad fighters”) or appeared in social media carrying arms or sporting Hamas or Islamic Jihad uniforms.
In accepting without challenge claims that verified terror operatives are “media workers,” CBS grossly debases its own profession and tramples over the network’s stated commitment “to tell the truth plainly—wherever it leads.”
Notably, Agence France Presse has previously commendably corrected after taking Hamas on its word about the killing of “journalists.”