A month before she was named to lead CBS News as editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss hosted an event in Pittsburgh, her hometown, asking whether expectant parents should use the latest genetic technologies to “design their babies.”

Ms. Weiss, 41, who grew up in Squirrel Hill and attended Shady Side Academy, took on the role of moderator, positioned between experts debating whether the genetic tinkering of babies is “unethical — or a moral imperative.”

It was a bold topic, but more surprising to some of the 230 attendees at the Greer Cabaret Theater was the balanced way it was discussed.

“It’s not like what you see on TV, where they just, like, yell at each other and make stuff up. It was very high quality,” said audience member Jim Busis, CEO and publisher of the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. “I

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