"60 Minutes" yanks segment, prompting concerns around editorial independence
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CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss speaks during a 2024 event in New York City. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press
CBS News pulled a segment on Trump administration deportations of Venezuelan immigrants to an El Salvador prison from "60 Minutes," causing staffers and media onlookers to question whether the decision was politically motivated.
Why it matters: The decision comes days after President Trump publicly complained the show was treating him even worse since CBS' parent company was acquired earlier this year.
- That company, Paramount Skydance, is now involved in a politically delicate effort to acquire CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery.
Driving the news: "60 Minutes" announced on social media around 4:30pm ET Sunday that it was dropping the segment, called "Inside CECOT," from that evening's broadcast lineup, but said that it would air at a later date.
- Sharyn Alfonsi, the segment's correspondent, alleged in an email to colleagues that she learned Saturday that new CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss had "spiked our story" after Trump officials refused to be interviewed, per multiple reports.
- "Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices," Alfonsi wrote, per a copy of the email that journalist Liam Scott shared on X.
- "It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one," Alfonsi added.
- "If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a 'kill switch' for any reporting they find inconvenient."
What they're saying: Weiss said in a statement to the New York Times late Sunday that her "job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be."
- She added: "Holding stories that aren't ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices—happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it's ready."
Zoom in: Representatives for CBS, "60 Minutes" and the White House did not immediately respond to Axios' Sunday evening request for comment on Alfonsi's reported remarks.
- However, a source familiar with the matter denied reports that the segment was pulled for Trump administration comment after representatives for the president declined to give CBS an interview.
- The source said the report needed more reporting and other elements, and that reporters did approach the Trump administration.
The big picture: The controversy follows a broad shakeup at CBS under its new owner.
- Paramount Skydance acquired The Free Press, a digital media outlet founded by Weiss, in October, and subsequently named her editor-in-chief of CBS News.
- Weiss reports directly to Paramount Skydance chair and CEO David Ellison, not CBS News president and executive editor Tom Cibrowski, nor Paramount TV media chair George Cheeks.
Go deeper: House Democrat asks CBS to explain Trump's "60 Minutes" interview edit
