“The Zionist Voice That Reached the Top of American Media”

Chosen for giving the Jewish people and Israel a powerful voice at the highest levels of American media: Bari Weiss has spent years challenging antisemitism, defending Israel and confronting what she sees as ideological groupthink in Western journalism.

In 2026, her influence reached an entirely new level, as editor-in-chief of CBS News, she became one of the most powerful Jewish voices shaping a major American news network.

In her role, Weiss has undertaken a sweeping effort to reshape the network's journalism, including bringing in new voices and placing greater emphasis on independent reporting, context and challenging established narratives. In January, she told CBS staff that without a major strategic shift, "we are toast," making clear that she intended to fundamentally rethink how one of America's oldest news organizations reaches its audience.

And Israel has remained deeply connected to that mission. Weiss has never treated Israel as simply another foreign-policy story, she has consistently argued that the way Israel is discussed is inseparable from the way Jews are treated around the world.

Weiss has spent her career refusing to accept the idea that Jews should remain silent or apologize for defending themselves, and now she has the platform to bring that message to one of America's largest news audiences.

For millions of viewers, Bari Weiss represents something bigger than a media executive: she is proof that a proudly Jewish, unapologetically Zionist voice can rise from the margins of American journalism to the very top of one of its most powerful institutions.

Her influence also carries a deeply personal message for Jews around the world. At a time when many Jews have felt increasingly pressured to hide their identity or distance themselves from Israel, Weiss has done the opposite, making Jewish identity, Israel and the fight against antisemitism central to her public life.

She isn't just reporting on the conversation surrounding Israel and the Jewish people. She is helping shape that conversation.

That is why Bari Weiss is No. 15 on The 36.