Despite having taken over as the head of CBS News last October, controversial Trump-friendly Bari Weiss was nowhere to be seen at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards in Manhattan on Wednesday night where the network’s “60 Minutes” was in line for 10 awards.
According to a report from media watchdog Status, the embattled Weiss missed out on being the center of attention — unflattering as it might have been.
Weiss’s decision to stay away was particularly striking given that network executives typically attend Emmy ceremonies to publicly celebrate and support their journalists’ work, the report notes.
The Emmy ceremony took place hours after veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi announced she would not be returning to the program. On Thursday, she was told she was no longer hired by CBS.
Veteran “60 Minutes” host Scott Pelley delivered pointed remarks during his presentation of the Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship, specifically shouting out Alfonsi — who received thunderous applause from the audience. When the camera panned to the CBS News section, Weiss was notably absent from her colleagues, reported Natalie Korach of Status.
Network spokespeople had declined to say whether Weiss planned to attend the annual awards ceremony, marking another instance of the editor-in-chief’s disconnection from the newsroom.
Under her employment agreement, Alfonsi technically remains an at-will employee unless CBS News formally terminates her. But in an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, she made clear she has no intention of quietly departing.
“They’ll have to fire me,” Alfonsi flatly stated, signaling she plans to fight for her professional standing.
The internal tensions erupted into view when Santiago Campos, recipient of the Mike Wallace scholarship, used his acceptance speech to directly condemn recent editorial decisions at CBS News.
“I want to also acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship,” Campos said. “As corporate elites take hold over the very pipes through which our information flows, journalism that serves people becomes increasingly harder to come by, yet ever more crucial. And what the people want is the truth.”
The crowd responded with applause, with some audience members rising to their feet. Scott Pelley appeared visibly moved by the young journalist’s rebuke, Status reported.
“I know that Mike Wallace is looking down at you with pride at this very moment,” Pelley told the crowd.
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