Major unrest has broken out at the iconic American news program 60 Minutes after CBS abruptly deleted an item from Sunday’s episode. The correspondent who created the story, Sharyn Alfonsi, in an email to colleagues, strongly criticized the decision not to air it, writing that she fears the program will be “dismantled” by the new editor-in-chief of CBS News. In protest, some employees are now threatening to leave 60 Minutes.
In the deleted item, Venezuelan men describe how they were deported by the Trump administration to a notorious high-security prison in El Salvador. CBS News reported this in a press release announcing the item on Friday 60 Minutes had spoken to several men who have since been released from prison and who “described the brutal and torturous conditions they endured.”
According to Alfonsi, the item was fact-checked and legally reviewed “five times” by CBS’s lawyers and its standards and practices department when the network announced it on Friday. “It is factually correct,” Alfonsi writes to her colleagues. “In my opinion, withdrawing it, after all strict internal checks have been carried out, is not an editorial decision, but a political decision.” CBS announced the program change three hours before the broadcast, which is very unusual.
The decision to delete the item was made over the weekend by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who felt that there was no response from the Trump administration. Alfonsi writes that she asked the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the White House for a response, but they did not respond. “The government’s silence is a statement, not a veto. Their refusal to grant an interview is a tactical maneuver designed to suppress the story.”
CBS headquarters in New York.
Image AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
Weiss defended her decision in a statement on Sunday The New York Times. “My job is to ensure that all the stories we publish are as good as possible. Postponing items that are not yet ready for whatever reason – for example because context or critical voices are missing – happens in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important story when it is ready.” She demands major changes, such as the , architect of Trump’s immigration policy.
Bold move
The state of affairs at 60 Minutes is a serious blow to the credibility of the popular news program, which has been under scrutiny since Weiss was named editor-in-chief of CBS News in October. That was a remarkable step for the channel of iconic news anchors Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, which many conservatives see as the epitome of “progressive media.” 60 Minutes is the only news program that is among the top 10 most watched programs on American TV.
Weiss was named editor-in-chief of CBS News after David Ellison, the owner of CBS’ parent company Paramount Skydance, closed its relatively small, independent news and opinion site TheFreePress had acquired for $150 million. Weiss pointed TheFreePress after her departure as opinion editor at The New York Times in 2020. The conservative, pro-Israel website presents itself as a reasonable alternative to the establishment media, which Weiss believes are too progressive and biased against Trump.
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After becoming editor-in-chief of CBS News, Weiss remained editor-in-chief of TheFreePress. Her appointment was met with widespread skepticism in the media world due to her lack of experience in hard news and leading a major television channel. From 2013 to 2017 she worked as an editor for The Wall Street Journal who wrote op-eds and book reviews. She left after three years The New York Times because of the “illiberal climate”, she wrote in her resignation letter, which she herself made public.
“I am confident that her entrepreneurial spirit and editorial vision will breathe new life into CBS News,” said Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison in announcing Weiss’s appointment as editor-in-chief. This is a new position at CBS News in which she reports directly to Ellison, who, like her, is a supporter of Trump and Israel. He said Weiss will “set editorial priorities, promote core values across all platforms, and lead innovation in how the organization delivers news.”
Conservative course
Since Ellison’s takeover of CBS’ parent company Paramount, journalists at the channel have been concerned that reporting is aligned with Trump’s interests. The sign was that Kenneth Weinstein, former director of a conservative think tank and a Trump donor, was appointed ombudsman. He has no background in journalism, but was a board member of the government agency that includes public broadcasters such as Voice of America.
After Weiss’ appointment, the channel’s new direction has become even clearer. According to her, change at CBS News is necessary because the ratings (except from 60 Minutes) lag behind competitors ABC and NBC. During a meeting with the news management of 60 Minutes she asked: “Why does the country think you are biased?” The question led according to The New York Times to the uncomfortable bewilderment of the experienced journalists of the program, who consider their reporting objective.
Weiss was also personally involved in arranging interviews with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff. She also regularly organizes events under the CBS brand where she interviews conservative figures such as Vice President JD Vance and Erika Kirk, the widow of the murdered right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk. This has led to internal criticism as it is unusual for the CBS channel boss to come to the fore in such a way.
Political pressure
The conservative turn of CBS News is inseparable from the increased political pressure on the media since Trump became president for the second time. At the end of 2024, he sued CBS and parent company Paramount, which had a different owner at the time. Trump claimed that 60 Minutes edited an interview with presidential candidate Kamala Harris to benefit her campaign. The merger of Paramount and Skydance was only approved by the government after Paramount settled the case for $16 million.
Paramount Skydance is now once again embroiled in a takeover battle that will require presidential approval. Ellison’s company recently launched a $108 billion hostile takeover bid for media company Warner Bros Discovery, which also includes the Trump-hated news channel CNN. The company is thus going against streaming service Netflix, which previously offered $82 billion. Warner rejected the hostile takeover bid last week, after which Ellison reinforced it with a $40 billion personal guarantee.
David Ellison and his father Larry have good relations with Trump (he calls them “my friends”), and are making frantic efforts to gain his support for their bid for Warner. But the president is using the takeover battle to increase pressure on the Ellisons. In recent weeks he has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with the reporting of 60 Minutes. First he stated that the program has “actually only gotten WORSE” since the takeover! Then he said: “If [de Ellisons] friends, I do not want to meet my enemies!”
The last time Trump lashed out at 60 Minutes and the Ellisons coincided – coincidentally or not – with the program’s internal wrangling over the later dropped item on the deported Venezuelans. “I love the new owners of CBS,” the president said during a public meeting on Friday evening. “But something happens to them. 60 Minutes has treated me worse under the new owners than… they keep me [slecht] treatment, they keep attacking me, it’s crazy.”
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