Outnumbered weighs in on the backlash facing new CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss amid staff outrage and media criticism over her appointment.

CBS News staffers objecting to their new boss are either too "progressive" or "really old," according to a network insider.

Bari Weiss was formally named editor-in-chief of CBS News earlier this month after her outlet, The Free Press, was acquired by Paramount. The move was met with both internal and external criticism -- with some citing her opinion background and lack of television experience -- but a CBS News insider said employees worrying about Weiss inside the newsroom come from two distinct camps.

"Really young people who, frankly, might be [more] progressive than they should be, and the really old people who feel protective of a brand that no longer exists anyway," the CBS News insider told Fox News Digital of colleagues who are "aghast" Weiss was hand-picked by Paramount CEO David Ellison to lead the news division.

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The insider said the older staffers who long for Walter Cronkite's CBS News "don't know how to grow with the times," and some younger colleagues object to Weiss being so passionately pro-Israel and anti-"woke."

"Everyone in between was like, 'Yeah let's try something new,'" they said.

The insider said a large majority of the newsroom is open-minded and well aware that Weiss "launched a hyper-successful media company" and clearly has a "good pulse" on the American zeitgeist.

"We probably needed a course correction, and an unwillingness to acknowledge that would lead to perpetual third place," the CBS News insider said.

"I didn't share the viewpoint that she was going to come in and butcher everything, and I've been right so far," the insider added. "She's forced us to think in a way that we weren't doing as much of before. I welcome that."

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They added the reaction from some colleagues mirrored the state of broadcast news, where a "refusal to evolve" has hurt many careers.

"I was never like, 'Oh my God, she's going to destroy our brand.' As third-place network, you would think you'd be wide open to new ideas," the insider said, referring to "CBS Evening News" and "CBS Mornings" both routinely floundering behind rivals on ABC and NBC.

Since Weiss took over, CBS landed Trump figures Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff for an interview on "60 Minutes" last week to discuss the historic peace deal the administration brokered between Hamas and Israel. Another "60 Minutes" segment last week featured a whistleblower who was sharply critical of the Trump Department of Justice.

Since she began, Weiss has already irked the Writers Guild of America East for emailing employees asking them to detail their daily duties.

The Guild, which represents some CBS staffers, urged them to hold off until the network addressed a list of questions. The union was concerned that members could be disciplined or laid off because of their answers, prompting CBS to announce that nobody would be punished if they ignored Weiss' request for information about what they do during working hours.

The insider was surprised the Guild, and some colleagues, had such a strong reaction.

"I felt grateful she was even interested," the insider said. "I don't know why it was twisted, she literally wants to know what we do. She's brand new."

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Plenty of figures inside and outside CBS aren't happy, however.

The Status newsletter called Weiss "one of the most polarizing figures in media," and has sounded the alarm over "how swiftly the inner workings of CBS News are shifting."

The New York Times reported "60 Minutes" staffers were aghast when Weiss asked why Americans thought the show had a liberal bias, and far-left Zeteo reported on CBS sources calling her tenure to date "chaotic."

Weiss has also been attacked by other liberal figures, including "Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver and ex-CBS anchor Dan Rather.

Despite negative coverage, the insider finds it refreshing that CBS News staffers aren't bending over backwards to appear "politically correct all the time" like they did under previous management.

"We needed fresh energy," they said. "She was treated unfairly from the beginning."

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Bari Weiss' critics inside CBS News fall into two distinct camps, network insider says