Bari Weiss tells staff '60 Minutes' CECOT story wasn't ready, says disrespect among colleagues is unacceptable
CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss addressed the growing furor on Monday over her decision to delay the airing of a "60 Minutes" segment about the brutal El Salvador prison CECOT, telling staffers the story was "not ready" and it was unacceptable to engage in disagreements without respect.
Weiss has angered CBS staffers, in particular "60 Minutes" correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, by delaying the airing of a planned segment, "Inside CECOT," that featured interviews with Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to the notorious prison. Alfonsi lashed out at Weiss in a note to fellow "60 Minutes" staffers that accused Weiss of "political" meddling and corporate censorship.
Weiss addressed the elephant in the room, according to a CBS News source, on Monday morning.
"I want to say something about trust: our trust for each other and our trust with the public. The only newsroom I’m interested in running is one in which we are able to have contentious disagreements about the thorniest editorial matters with respect, and, crucially, where we assume the best intent of our colleagues. Anything else is absolutely unacceptable," she said, according to CNN, in comments confirmed to Fox News Digital.
"I held a ‘60 Minutes’ story because it was not ready. While the story presented powerful testimony of torture at CECOT, it did not advance the ball — the [New York] Times and other outlets have previously done similar work. The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment at this prison. To run a story on this subject two months later, we need to do more. And this is ‘60 Minutes.’ We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera. Our viewers come first. Not the listing schedule or anything else. That’s my north star and I hope it’s yours, too."
Alfonsi's memo to her colleagues quickly went viral on Sunday night. She insisted her story had met rigorous standards and was being delayed because of politics. According to The New York Times, Weiss viewed the segment on Thursday and raised concerns about the lack of a Trump voice in the story, and ultimately decided on Saturday to hold it from airing.
"Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices," Alfonsi wrote. "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 she had reached out to the White House, Department of Homeland Security and State Department for interviews, and their silence was effectively a statement that shouldn't veto the story from airing.
"We have been promoting this story on social media for days," Alfonsi wrote. "Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of ‘gold standard’ reputation for a single week of political quiet."
She also invoked the infamous Jeffrey Wigand incident — made famous in the 1999 movie "The Insider" — when "60 Minutes" was pressured by corporate executives not to air an interview with the tobacco industry whistleblower.
The CECOT story's delay has drawn intense media interest, leading multiple news sites Sunday night and Monday morning. "CBS Mornings" briefly addressed the story on Monday morning as well.
CBS News told Fox News Digital, "The '60 Minutes' report on 'Inside CECOT' will air in a future broadcast. We determined it needed additional reporting."
It marks the most controversial moment yet of Weiss' short but bumpy tenure, which has seen her challenge staffers on liberal bias and secure high-profile interviews with figures like President Donald Trump and Erika Kirk. She's also fallen under the microscope of left-leaning news sites who are suspicious of her heterodox opinion background, as well as suspect corporate meddling from Paramount CEO David Ellison.
Weiss was appointed to the top position at CBS News in October after Paramount acquired her site, The Free Press. Paramount merged with Skydance Media earlier this year and is now making moves to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
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