Bari Weiss defends decision to hold 60 Minutes segment in email
Bari Weiss defended her decision in a staff email to hold a 60 Minutes segment about CECOT, a maximum-security prison in El salvador where alleged Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration were held. She said the pause was intended to rebuild public trust in the press by doing extra legwork and ensuring stories are thorough and fair, even if those standards feel “radical” or controversial. Weiss – appointed CBS News editor‑in‑chief in October – argued the move was about getting the story right, not scoring political points, and blamed a slow news week for the ensuing backlash. the decision drew heavy criticism, including from correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, who accused Weiss of “spiking” the piece and warned that requiring government interviews would let the state control reporting. Weiss maintained the segment was “not ready” and vowed to air it when it meets the newsroom’s standards. The episode was nonetheless accidentally uploaded to Canada’s Global TV and spread widely online. The staff email was co‑signed by CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and Weiss’s deputies Charles Forelle and Adam Rubenstein.
Bari Weiss defends decision to hold 60 Minutes segment in staff email
CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss defended her decision to hold a 60 Minutes segment about the notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo in an email to staff, arguing it was part of her strategy to restore viewers’ trust in the press.
“Right now, the majority of Americans say they do not trust the press. It isn’t because they’re crazy,” Weiss wrote. “To win back their trust, we have to work hard.”
The network made headlines this week after it decided to pull a segment highlighting the conditions inside CECOT, a maximum security prison in El Salvador, where the Trump administration deported alleged Venezuelan migrants.
In an email published online by the New York Times, Weiss wrote that to restore trust, sometimes that means “doing more legwork” or holding a piece to guarantee it is “comprehensive and fair.”
Weiss said the decision to hold the piece may seem “radical” but is important in restoring the “integrity” of the news.
“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,” she wrote. “But to fulfill our mission, it’s necessary.”
Weiss, who was appointed as editor-in-chief in October, blamed the “slow” news week for causing a “firestorm” over the editorial decision.
“No amount of outrage – whether from activist organizations or the White House – will derail us. 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 public and get the story right.”
CBS received a wave of criticism after it announced the decision to pull the segment from Sunday night’s 60 Minutes airing, including from the correspondent featured in the episode.
Sharyn Alfonsi, the correspondent in the segment, accused Weiss of “spiking” the segment and called it a “political” decision.
“If the standard for airing a story becomes ‘the government must agree to be interviewed’ then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast. We go from an investigative powerhouse to stenographer for the state,” she wrote in an email to staff.
Weiss argued, at the time, that the segment was “not ready” and “did not advance the ball.”
In a statement to the New York Times on Sunday, Weiss said, “I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready.”
Despite the network pulling the segment, it was accidentally uploaded to Canadian streaming platform Global TV. The segment went viral online, with social media users recording and uploading it to various social platforms.
Weiss’s email sent to staff ahead of the holidays was cosigned by CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and Weiss’s newly appointed deputies, Charles Forelle and Adam Rubenstein.
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