Bari Weiss suggests CECOT '60 Minutes' piece she delayed wasn't 'fair' in memo to staffers
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss sent a memo to staffers Wednesday continuing to defend her decision to delay a CECOT "60 Minutes" segment that's created a media firestorm, saying it was part of a broader mission to win back audience trust and suggesting the story wasn't yet "comprehensive and fair."
Weiss, who has irked some insiders by noting a lack of faith from the public in CBS and other mainstream media institutions, told staffers in a message obtained by Fox News Digital the majority of Americans who say they don't trust the press aren't "crazy."
"To win back their trust, that means we have to work hard," she wrote. "Sometimes that means doing more legwork. Sometimes it means telling unexpected stories. Sometimes it means training our attention on topics that have been overlooked or misconstrued. And sometimes it means holding a piece about an important subject to make sure it is comprehensive and fair."
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"In our upside-down moment, this may seem radical," she went on. "Such editorial decisions can cause a firestorm, particularly on a slow news week. And the standards for fairness we are holding ourselves to, particularly on contentious subjects, will surely feel controversial to those used to doing things one way. But to fulfill our mission, it's necessary."
That appeared to be a clear shot at the "60 Minutes" story that Weiss delayed this week, which prompted correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi to fire off an angry memo accusing Weiss of making a political rather than editorial decision. Alfonsi's message to her colleagues quickly leaked and started a media frenzy around Weiss' leadership.
Weiss isn't backing down, however, if her new message is any indication, from her mission to rebuild CBS News.
She wrote "no amount of outrage," whether from outside activists or the White House, would derail the mission.
"We are not out to score points with one side of the political spectrum or to win followers on social media," she wrote. "We are out to inform the American public and to get the story right."
The letter was signed by Weiss, executive editor Tom Cibrowski and deputy editors Adam Rubenstein and Charles Forelle.
It wasn't just Alfonsi and "60 Minutes" colleagues who balked at Weiss for her initial decision to hold the piece. The move drew a torrent of public criticism, much of it from the left side of the aisle in media and politics, with detractors taking shots at Weiss' opinion background and lack of experience running a large news division.
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Liberal media critics, already wary of Weiss due to her anti-woke and pro-Israel views, have jumped on the story and reported some staffers are demoralized and furious with the decision. Some outlets have even suggested, with no evidence, that Weiss is performing a corporate hit job on behalf of the Trump administration because of Paramount's efforts to take over Warner Bros. Discovery.
Weiss, who founded The Free Press following her stint as an opinion editor for the New York Times, was tapped as CBS editor in October by Paramount CEO David Ellison.
Weiss' notes for Alfonsi's CECOT story included calling for more aggressive efforts to get a Trump official on camera to defend its deportation policies, as well as dinging the segment's "strange" section that included Berkeley students analyzing the notorious El Salvador prison. CBS announced Sunday, hours before "60 Minutes" was to air, that it was holding the segment for additional reporting.
Her defenders have said her notes to improve the CECOT piece were valid and would make the segment less one-sided, as it only included past, brief clips of President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. CBS has also come under fire for not using reported on-the-record comments from the White House, Department of Homeland Security and State Department in the segment.
Journalist Michael Shellenberger noted what he viewed as the story's deficiencies Tuesday in an interview on Fox News, saying Weiss was "100%" correct to hold the story for more reporting.
The segment leaked online after airing in Canada and can be seen here. Alfonsi interviewed two Venezuelan men who were deported to CECOT, where they described torture and hellish conditions. She also interviewed Human Rights Watch official Juan Pappier and students and staff from UC-Berkeley's Human Rights Center.