Bari Weiss defends decision to pull 60 Minutes episode on El Salvador prison | CBS
Bari Weiss, executive editor of CBS News, defended the decision to pull a 60 Minutes segment about allegations investigating a notorious prison in El Salvador, arguing that the network’s priority was to ensure coverage was “comprehensive and fair.”
In the memo sent to staff on Christmas Eve, Weiss said news organizations must do more to regain the trust of the American people and vowed that “no amount of outrage” would “derail us.”
“We are not trying to score points from one side of the political spectrum or gain followers on social media,” according to the memo signed by Weiss and other CBS News leaders. published in full by various media outlets. “We are here to inform the American public and tell the right story.”
The infighting over the storyline exploded into the public eye after CBS announced that the episode would not be a part of the show, despite extensive promotion. Weiss’s last-minute decision to air the episode sparked outrage and accusations of censorship during Donald Trump’s second administration. conservative commentators They defended the move, generally in line with the president. CBS reporter Sharyn Alfonsi, who spent weeks covering the episode, called the decision a “political decision” in a private email sent to 60 Minutes reporters and later made public.
In his memo to staff, Weiss acknowledged the turmoil his decision created internally and externally, but rejected the charge that politics played a role in his determination to keep the segment.
“Such editorial decisions can cause a firestorm, especially during a slow news week,” Weiss wrote. “And the standards of fairness we seek to uphold, especially in controversial matters, will certainly seem controversial to those accustomed to doing things one way. But it is necessary to fulfill our mission.”
Weiss said he was concerned that the episode aired without adequate response from the Trump administration. But Alfonsi said it was “reviewed five times” and approved by CBS lawyers and the standards and practices department. He also said his team unsuccessfully requested comment from the White House, the U.S. State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“If management’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason for a story to be featured, we have effectively given them a ‘kill switch’ for any report they deem inappropriate,” Alfonsi wrote.
The episode was released online after being broadcast by a streaming platform owned by Global TV, which owns the rights to 60 Minutes in Canada. In this film, Alfonsi visits the prison in El Salvador and interviews deportees who gave powerful testimony about torture and abuse at the infamous prison where the Trump administration recently sent more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants from the United States to a federal judge. was a violation of due process rights.
CBS’ decision to air the episode comes amid a growing feud between the Trump administration and 60 Minutes, one of journalism’s most respected outlets known for its tough investigations. During the 2024 election, Trump refused to be interviewed by 60 Minutes, then sued the network over how the show handled an interview with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris. In a highly controversial move, CBS parent company Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle the lawsuit.
In early December, Trump fumed, telling Truth Social that the network had treated him “much worse since the so-called ‘takeover’ than they’ve ever treated me before.”
“If they’re friends, I hate to see my enemies!” the Republican added. A week ago, he attacked the show for an interview with sympathetic Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose ally is now a critic and whom he called “a very ill-prepared traitor” and said of parent company Paramount: “IT’S NOT BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP.”
Weiss’s management of CBS has come under harsh scrutiny since his appointment as editor-in-chief of CBS News by Paramount CEO David Ellison, son of Trump ally and donor Larry Ellison, one of the richest people in the world. Paramount also acquired Weiss’s Free Press, the conservative-friendly publication he founded after leaving the New York Times as a columnist, in a $150 million deal.
His appointment was met with disappointment and concern by CBS’ editorial staff, while media observers questioned Weiss’s qualifications to lead the famed news network and expressed concerns about further politicization of the media. Weiss, who has built a reputation as a provocative opinion writer and media operator, has no experience in broadcast television.
Paramount is now waging an extraordinary hostile takeover bid to seize control of Warner Bros. Discovery, which has reached an agreement to sell its historic film and television assets to Netflix. Trump has made clear that he plans to engage in the regulatory review process of the acquisition.
