CBS Journalist Freaks Out After Bari Weiss Pulls Her '60 Minutes' Segment on El Salvador Prison
"My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be..."
This article originally appeared on ZeroHedge and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Tyler Durden
CBS News’ new editor in chief Bari Weiss pulled a planned “60 Minutes” segment on an El Salvador maximum-security prison where the Trump administration has sent hundreds of Venezuelan migrants - apparently because the journalist behind the piece failed to obtain comment from the Trump administration.
The 11th hour decision prompted outrage from a high-profile network correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, who said that Weiss “spiked our story,” and characterized the move as a political decision rather than an editorial call, according to an email reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct,” Alfonsi’s email continues, adding that if the standard for airing a story became the government agreeing to be interviewed, the network would cede editorial control. “We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state,” she added.
While Alfonsi’s email suggests that the segment was held over lack of comment from the Trump admin, a source tells Axios that’s not the case - and that the report actually needed more reporting and other elements, and that the reporters did seek comment from the Trump admin.
In response, Weiss said: “My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be,” adding “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.”
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In a follow-up, Weiss said:
As of course you all have seen, I held a ‘60 Minutes’ story, and I held that story because it wasn’t ready. The story presented very powerful testimony of abuse at CECOT, but that testimony has already been reported on by places like The Times. The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment in this prison. So to run a story on this subject, two months later, we simply need to do more. And this is ‘60 Minutes.’ We need to be able to make every effort to get the principles on the record and on camera. To me, our viewers come first, not a listing schedule or anything else, and that is my north star, and I hope it’s the north star of every person in this newsroom.
CBS had been advertising the segment on Friday, teasing some of Alfonsi’s interviews with some of the deported migrants who had been released from the megaprison - describing “the brutal and torturous conditions they endured.”
The Trump administration has been deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CEDOT), however in June a federal judge said that the admin must allow migrants an opportunity to challenge their removal from the US.
CBS parent company Paramount purchased Weiss’s news and opinion site, the Free Press, for $150 million earlier this year - which CEO David Ellison (Larry Ellison’s son) said was to bring the network “news that reflects reality” and journalism that “doesn’t seek to demonize, but seeks to understand.”
Meanwhile, some (like CNBC‘s Andrew Ross Sorkin) are suggesting that this was about appeasing the Trump administration amid a fierce battle between Netflix and Paramount over the purchase of Warner Brothers Discovery.
Either scenario would likely trigger a review by the US Justice Department, which could block the transaction or demand changes.
Earlier this month, President Trump suggested that the Netflix deal “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share.
“There’s no question about it,” Trump said, though later he claimed that he “didn’t know anything about the deal.”
On Monday, Paramount Skydance announced that billionaire Larry Ellison had personally guaranteed an amended offer for Warner Brothers Discovery.
“Larry Ellison has agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4 billion of the equity financing for the offer and any damages claims against Paramount,” the company said in a press release.
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Wait, so censorship is bad, now?
So hard to follow, sometimes.