CBS News staffers are coming to terms with the news that controversial commentator Bari Weiss is their new editor-in-chief, as the storied network’s owner Paramount Skydance acquires her Substack-based publication the Free Press in a reported $150m deal.

In conversations with the Guardian, six current network employees expressed a mixture of apprehension, skepticism and frustration over the appointment. “A throwing up emoji is not enough of a reflection of the feelings in here,” one particularly incensed CBS News employee said in a text message.

“It’s utterly depressing. Somebody who has zero experience in television news or even hard news for that matter… but with a clearly defined political agenda,” said another staffer. “It’s hard to see this as anything more than an attempt to bend the knee completely.”