Under conservative editor Bari Weiss’s eight-month leadership at CBS News, the top-rated “60 Minutes” program has lost seven of its 10 correspondents and seen its editorial independence severely compromised through alleged political interference.
On May 28 — dubbed “Black Thursday” by staff — Weiss fired correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, executive producer Tanya Simon, and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich in a single sweep, reported Variety. Days later, Scott Pelley was also fired after questioning Weiss’s leadership publicly.
Former correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi alleged Weiss cut a fully vetted report on Venezuelan migrants in El Salvador hours before airtime because the Trump administration declined comment.
Among Pelley’s accounts of Weiss’ leadership style to The New York Times, he reported the controversial Editor-in-Chief demanded he contradict evidence when reporting on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Instead of saying ICE shot a woman, Weiss demanded Pelley say she drove towards the officer.
Critics denounced other problematic patterns, including a CBS Evening News segment stating, “Marco Rubio, we salute you,” and allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the privilege of selecting his own “60 Minutes” interviewer.
Before Weiss’s purge and despite ongoing turmoil, the program just completed its 52nd consecutive season as top-rated news programming.
“I have a feeling that Bari will not be overseeing ‘60 Minutes’ for very much longer,” hoped longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft, who retired in 2019.
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