The Free Press broke a major scoop with an exclusive report by Jay Solomon revealing that the Trump administration is investigating Iran war critic Trita Parsi for potential deportation and green card revocation. Yet, while the outlet continues to land high-profile exclusives, the podcast world is fiercely divided over the startup's internal health and leadership.
On Pod Save America, reporter Will Sommer detailed how the outlet is trying to pivot into "kind of like a lifestyle thing" by hosting meetups for "heterodox thinkers," though he noted a clear "drift" as founder Bari Weiss focuses her attention elsewhere. Maureen Callahan went even further on The Megyn Kelly Show, claiming Weiss is "terrible at managing people" and that the publication was exciting at first but then "flopped."
Not everyone agrees that the outlet is struggling. On The Daily, former CBS anchor Scott Pelley defended the venture, stating that Weiss's "Free Press organization that she founded has been very successful." Meanwhile, host Megyn Kelly highlighted the outlet's reporting on Belle Burden, quoting their breakdown of her "$63 million trust fund" to show that the publication's investigative work is still driving major cultural conversations.
As The Free Press navigates both internal management critiques and external growth, its ability to break massive stories like the Parsi investigation will determine whether it remains a permanent fixture of the media landscape or a temporary startup experiment.