Podcast Summary:

Master Plan – The Billionaire-Backed Takeover Of CBS News (Lever Time)
Host: David Sirota (The Lever)
Date: October 9, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode, hosted by David Sirota, investigates the recent takeover of CBS News by a tech billionaire and Bari Weiss’s appointment as its new Editor in Chief—a development Sirota frames not as a sudden disruption, but as the culmination of a 50-year strategy to undermine accountability journalism and place mainstream media under oligarchic, conservative control. Drawing on never-before-reported documents and historic context from The Lever’s investigative reporting (and the new Master Plan book), Sirota connects the dots from the 1971 Powell Memo through decades of corporate maneuvering, deregulation, and media consolidation, arguing that today’s media landscape is the chilling realization of a master plan to “legalize corruption” and silence dissent in U.S. democracy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Billionaire-Backed Transformation of CBS News

• [02:17] CBS News announces conservative columnist Bari Weiss as Editor in Chief, acquiring her platform The Free Press.
  • “A tech billionaire has placed CBS News under the control of a conservative provocateur.” – David Sirota [01:34]
• Bari Weiss, lacking broadcast journalism experience, symbolizes a shift toward political, not journalistic, motivations for major media appointments.
• The Free Press, previously billed as “independent,” is backed by billionaire venture capitalists and is characterized as a “mouthpiece for power and money.”
  • “It’s a lot easier when you’re a mouthpiece for power and money. The Free Press was never really independent.” – David Sirota [04:37]

2. Corporate Media's Decades-Long Rightward Evolution

• Recent Trump actions: extracting settlements from media, defunding public outlets, amplifying allies, and muting critics. All signal consolidation of power.
• The supposed transformation is not new—it's "a really big plan" tracing back half a century.
  • “These developments are actually not so new... the culmination of a scheme launched half a century ago.” – David Sirota [06:52]

3. The Powell Memo as Blueprint for Control

• [09:07] 1971: Tobacco lawyer Lewis Powell writes a manifesto urging corporations to “take control” of media, lamenting platforms for critics of big business.
  • Read dramatically by comedian Lewis Black for emphasis:
    • “The national television network should be monitored... daily news analysis... includes the most insidious type of criticism of the enterprise system.” – Lewis Black as Powell [10:48]
• Following the memo, Powell is appointed to the Supreme Court by Nixon, later crafting precedent equating money to speech and fueling deregulation.
  • Powell’s legacy: judicially blessed corruption and a direct assault on journalism’s role as power adversary.

4. Media Industry Buy-In: Internal Documents & Quiet Revolution

• CBS and other major media executive involvement in the “Powell Memo Task Force,” as revealed in never-before-published documents.
• [15:15] CBS president Arthur Taylor: actively pressuring coverage to go “more pro-business;” expressing alignment with Powell’s analysis of journalism as dangerous to the status quo.
  • “I’ve been attempting as persuasively as possible... to correct the situation at CBS News... But I’m afraid it’s going to take a long time.” – Arthur Taylor letter, read aloud [15:53]

5. Roger Ailes, Fox News, and the Chamber of Commerce's Media Strategy

• [16:39] A young Roger Ailes directly pitches corporate use of their leverage to dominate TV programming.
  • “Advertisers would be able to exert upon TV programming if they were moved to do so.” – Roger Ailes, described [16:50]
• Beer baron Joseph Coors cites the Powell Memo as his activation into conservative activism—leading to the founding of new right-wing news outlets.

6. Building the Modern Pro-Corporate Media Landscape

• [18:57] The Chamber’s early-’70s “media outreach” includes 500+ press columns, hundreds of radio/TV stations, and pro-capitalism films.
  • Nationwide ad campaigns defend free market ideology against critical reporting.
• Regulatory milestones:
  • Reagan (1980s): Slays Fairness Doctrine, sparking right-wing talk radio.
  • Clinton (1990s): Deregulates media, enabling massive mergers (e.g., Disney, Fox, GE dominate the airwaves).
  • Bush (2000s): Further loosens ownership rules, accelerating consolidation.

7. Critical Voices, Satire, and the Shrinking Space for Dissent

• [22:50] SNL skit satirizing “mediaopoly” is quickly erased from reruns, Big Media silencing internal criticism.
• Sirota notes the open boasting by media CEOs about Trump’s “ratings gold,” and increasing apathy about billionaire influence in newsrooms:
  • “It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.” – Les Moonves [23:29]

8. The Project's Culmination & Dangerous Present

• Bari Weiss’s installation at CBS is positioned as the Powell Memo’s vision fully realized, with a media industry openly hostile to critics of corporate and rightwing power.
• Contemporary voices (e.g., Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Chris Murphy) now mainstream concerns over ideological capture and the systemic threat to democracy.
  • “If you give us power, we are going to break up these corporate monopolies and in particular, these media monopolies.” – Senator Chris Murphy [27:02]

9. A Call to Action

• The only remedy: broad public support for independent journalism, breaking up monopolies, and restoring local, community-based news.
  • “If you’re upset about the master plan... you can fight back by supporting independent journalism that’s helping combat the problem.” – David Sirota [27:47]
• Urges listeners to subscribe to independent outlets, calling it vital for “truth, democracy, freedom, and basically the entire American way of life.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Bari Weiss on her own ascent:

  • "This move is a testament to many things... the vision of Paramount's new leaders, the luck of starting an independent media company at just the right moment..." [02:37]

• Lewis Black channeling Lewis Powell:

  • “The national television network should be monitored in the same way that textbooks should be kept under constant surveillance... ” [10:48]

• David Sirota on The Lever:

  • “We're a news outlet that does real original reporting. We follow the money and we call out abuses of power instead of publishing culture war clickbait.” [05:54]

• Arthur Taylor’s chilling forecast:

  • “I've been attempting as persuasively as possible for the last year to correct the situation at CBS News with some results. But I'm afraid it's going to take a long time.” [15:53]

• Senator Chris Murphy on monopoly danger:

  • “These despots take control of the media space. They reward the folks that run the media companies with big, lavish paydays. And in exchange, criticism is not eliminated, but... the political opposition really never has a shot to win a major election.” [26:42]

• Les Moonves on Trump and CBS:

  • "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS."[23:29]

Timeline of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Announcement/opening setup, recent developments in Trump-era media industry | | 02:17 | CBS hands Bari Weiss control, buys The Free Press | | 04:37 | Dissecting the financial/political power behind The Free Press | | 06:52 | Framing the “master plan,” connecting current events to a half-century strategy | | 09:07 | The Powell Memo—corporate blueprint to dominate media | | 10:48 | Lewis Black reads Powell’s call for media surveillance | | 12:24 | Powell’s Supreme Court ascension celebrated by Big Tobacco and CBS | | 15:53 | CBS exec Arthur Taylor: pressuring news to be more “pro-business” | | 16:39 | Roger Ailes, Coors involvement, right-wing news creation | | 18:57 | Chamber’s 1970s media network, propaganda films, ad campaigns | | 20:34 | Ad Council/White House defend capitalism via government-media ad blitz | | 21:03 | Reagan, Clinton, Bush administrations gut regulations, fuel consolidation | | 22:50 | SNL spoof on consolidation; suppressed criticism | | 23:29 | Les Moonves quote, open profit-over-democracy admissions | | 25:54 | Sen. Chris Murphy: present-day “media monopoly” landscape | | 27:02 | Murphy: Democrats must commit to breaking up monopolies | | 27:47 | Sirota’s final call: Support independent journalism |

Tone and Language

The episode carries a tone of urgent warning, blending investigative rigor with frustration and wry humor to emphasize stakes around democracy and media integrity. Sirota and guests use plain, direct language; satire and dramatized historical readings (e.g., Lewis Black as Powell) add punch to complex points.

Conclusion

Lever Time’s exposé ties the Bari Weiss/CBS story to a 50-year “master plan,” now baldly visible in U.S. media. Through never-before-seen records, historic audio, and expert commentary, it demonstrates how the rich and powerful have deliberately bent journalism to their will, threatening the very foundation of democratic discourse. The call to arms: break up media monopolies and invest in independent, adversarial reporting before it is too late.