Bari Weiss’ Free Press Goes Hollywood

Bari Weiss burned her bridges at the New York Times via an open resignation letter for the ages.

As places like The Times and other once-great journalistic institutions betray their standards and lose sight of their principles, Americans still hunger for news that is accurate, opinions that are vital, and debate that is sincere.

Few career advisors would recommend that move. It still paid off handsomely for Weiss.

Not only did she successfully segue to Substack, but she’s arguably one of the most influential journalists in the country.

Weiss founded The Free Press at the end of 2022, a news outlet dedicated to journalism without tribal barriers.

So far, so very good … economically speaking.

The Free Press just released its latest journalistic salvo, one meant to share its reportage on a different platform.

“American Miseducation” chronicles the rise of antisemitism on colleges nationwide. Academia’s alarming reaction to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas shocked the world. The documentary also reveals the free speech hypocrisy tied to the pro-Palestinian movement.

The 20-minute film, available for free on YouTube, explores topics the mainstream media won’t touch. Here is the official film description:

Free Press correspondent Olivia Reingold travels to America’s most elite colleges—from UPenn to Columbia—to find the origins of campus antisemitism and to ask how the smartest people in the country became the source of so much hate.

American Miseducation was made possible through our partnership with the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History—a nonprofit organization building a movement of civic educators to reach the next generation with the principles of freedom, tolerance, and human dignity that lie at the heart of the American political tradition.

“American Miseducation” also examines how the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel showcased academia’s free speech double standards. Conservative speakers are routinely prohibited from speaking on campuses. Colleges roll out the red carpet for some anti-Israel voices.

“Overnight, the very people who had spent years demanding safe spaces and complaining against micro-aggressions transformed into free speech absolutists,” Reingold says in the film.

Universities don’t exist in a cultural bubble, the documentary argues.

“What happens on campus doesn’t stay on campus,” Reingold warns, a message previously shared in the 2019 documentary “No Safe Spaces.” That film chronicled academia’s attempts to muzzle free speech.

“We all live on campus now,” Political scientist Yascha Mounk adds in The Free Press’ film.

“American Miseducation” is the latest example of alternative media outlets entering the documentary space.

The Daily Wire previously released “What Is a Woman?” and “The Greatest Lie Ever Sold,” while The Daily Caller unveiled “Damaged” in 2023. The latter detailed the highly volatile subject of detransitioning.