The Information's TITV
00:00:06 · Stephanie Palazzolo
[00:00:06] S0: Welcome everyone to a very special edition of The Information's TITV. My name is Stephanie Palazzolo, and it's Thursday, October 29. I'm coming to you from Napa Valley where the Information's WTF Summit, our annual gathering of senior women in technology, media, and finance is underway. The theme this year is building and we're talking to the leaders building the next era of technology from the AI boom to breakthroughs in health care and beyond. We have a patch show for you today. First, we'll explore how AI is transforming health care and biology with 23andMe CEO, Anne Wojcicki, and Lori Goler, president of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic organization founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. We'll also examine the massive infrastructure build out powering the AI boom with Google's global head of data center energy. We'll then talk to UBS's head of AI investment banking in The Americas about the billions of dollars pouring into AI. And finally, we'll look at the growing cybersecurity challenges facing companies in the AI era with the founder and CEO of Wabbi. It's a great lineup, so let's get right on into it. Bari Weiss, editor in chief of CBS News, spoke with our CEO and editor in chief Jessica Lessin at the conference. Here's a look at their conversation.
00:01:29 · Jessica Lessin
[00:01:29] S1: I wanna talk about one moment about you brought up Leslie and the coverage of Israel. There were reports that you edited out the Gaza death toll in some October 7 coverage. First, did that... I mean, can you tell people what happened there? And second, why am I reading on the Internet that you edited out the death toll of the Gaza coverage? Right.
00:01:51 · Bari Weiss
[00:01:51] S2: The question of why people are so deeply curious about Steve and then I'll I'll get it. Okay. The question of Yeah. Of the real passion that people have for things going on at CBS is like I'm inside of it. It's not something I can answer. You or other people in this room might have a better answer. The story in question I believe was being reported by Holly Williams. Yeah. It was a story about, it was a story on the anniversary of the October seventh massacre carried out by Hamas. And I believe the story in the morning had a particular shape and talked about the broad Middle East Wars that have followed from that moment and included the Gaza death toll, and there was a different story, maybe a different length that appeared on the evening news. I was not involved in the editing of either of those stories. I have... There's 1,400, 1,200 people in the newsroom. We produce an unbelievable amount of content. I'm not deep in the weeds of every story. Now the question of why someone decided to yoke that to me, again, it's a question for other people to answer. What I would say though is just from an... Like every single choice that we make is an editorial choice. On the anniversary of nine eleven, do we open with the forever wars that followed in the wake of nine eleven, or do we open with the tragedy of the victims of nine eleven? That's an editorial question. It's a question of taste. And I think it's, you know, you can make a legitimate argument on on either side of that. It seemed like in the morning we went with one perspective. In the evening, we went with another. I don't think there's anything scandalous or controversial about that.
00:03:28 · Jessica Lessin, Bari Weiss, Nicole Su, Brittany Greenfield
[00:03:28] S1: So how do you practically run a newsroom where you know [00:03:34] S2: there's a high level I don't work out. I don't sleep. I I don't have any friends left. I mean, that would be one answer [00:03:40] S3: to that [00:03:41] S4: question. Few friends. [00:03:42] S2: But but Your husband likes me well enough. [00:03:45] S1: He does. He does. You have many in the room too. [00:03:47] S2: I don't think you're so bad either. But No, but really it's it's it's... This has been consuming. But I also want [00:03:54] S1: to know when you enter room and there's a 90% chance someone is recording the meeting, right, you've taken this vision that I think is very powerful and you're trying it's playing out in one of America's oldest, you know, news institutions. And it's probably not one that's 90%, 95 like the times. But it does seem hostile to what you're trying to do. But from the outside. So what is it like being on the inside? [00:04:25] S2: I would say on the inside, it's been tremendously successful. The disparity... I mean, I'm sure if you all work at places that are covered and scrutinized, you know that the reality... The gap between the stories that are being told and the actual experience of it. In the case of CBS, it's like a chasm. If I spent all of my time being concerned about trying to tell a different story, I would not be able to run the actual news organization. So I would say, like, just step back for a second. Right? This is one of [00:04:59] S4: the most
00:04:59 · Brittany Greenfield, Bari Weiss, Jessica Lessin
[00:04:59] S4: the most [00:04:59] S2: storied important news organizations in the world. It was built for a time where there were three news channels that you could choose from on the television. We now live in a world of infinite information, choice, and possibility. By necessity, that means it has to change. Every single legacy news organization Yep. Has to change because we're in, you know, the attention... Whatever you wanna call it. We are in a a fierce competition to get people... To command people's attention. To make sure that we are offering them is something that matters and ultimately as you've talked about the collapse of advertising, to make something people are willing to pay for. The bar for that is extremely high. [00:05:46] S1: Yep. [00:05:47] S2: And so the change that's required is painful as it would be in any organization that has to change the way it does business. So that's baked in. It's like change is hard. We're human beings. We are used to routine. It's hard for any of us in any situation. I think the thing that has not been told that has been an incredible success that I'm really proud of is that me and the team that I brought in and then the incredibly hardworking, talented producers and journalists and correspondents at CBS, the majority of them have shifted to a much more entrepreneurial mentality and culture. And that has been very exciting [00:06:30] S1: How is be that part showing up? New shows, changes to shows?
00:06:30 · Jessica Lessin, Bari Weiss
[00:06:30] S1: How is be that part showing up? New shows, changes to shows? [00:06:32] S2: I mean, so first of all, like just take the case of Nora O'Donnell, someone who's been incredible, been at CBS for a long time. Nora O'Donnell is showing up on the morning show, she's showing up as one of the correspondents on sixty Minutes, But she also has a new health podcast that's doing incredibly well. We launched live events with her. I went the other day. It started off, I did not participate, but there was a yoga. There was yoga and there was pilates. And then there was a conversation on stage with Ali Reissman and it, you know, and there was Adidas stuff. Like, that that kind of thing wasn't happening at CBS before. Or take the take the example of Tony, who's the anchor of the evening news. This week, we launched a podcast with him called great question with Tony Dokoupil. It's fantastic. Every single podcast episode focuses on, like, a single provocative question. The first was with Malcolm Gladwell. Does America need more policing? The next one will drop in a day or two from now. It's what are the France riots really about with Thomas Chatterton Williams? Those are just a few of the things.