Mutiny at 'cesspool' CBS: 60 Minutes editors call 'bull****' and declare war over spiked deportations story... staff prepare to quit... and insider accuses network star of grave error
Fresh from a weekend of bruising skirmishes, the new head of CBS News emerged on Monday bloodied, but unbowed at the network's regular 9am meeting.
CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss defended her decision, reportedly made on Saturday, to spike a segment on the flagship news show 60 Minutes, which criticized the Trump administration's deportation of Venezuelan migrants to an infamous El Salvador prison.
In response to the eleventh-hour cancellation, 60 Minutes journalist Sharyn Alfonsi, who reported the piece, wrote an angry missive to fellow staffers on Sunday, accusing Weiss of bending to pressure from the White House.
'Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,' Alfonsi wrote. 'In my view, pulling it now - after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.'
The letter was swifty leaked to the media.
Facing a growing newsroom mutiny, Weiss made her defense on Monday, according to a recording obtained by the Wall Street journal.
Weiss said the Alfonsi's segment did not include an adequate response from the government, and so, it was unfinished. Furthermore, she proclaimed, accusing her of kowtowing to Trump was unjust, unfair, and intolerable.
'The only newsroom that I'm interested in running is one where we are able to have contentious disagreements about the thorniest editorial matters - and do so with respect, and, crucially, where we assume the best intent of our colleagues,' Weiss said. 'And anything else is absolutely unacceptable to me - and should be unacceptable to you.'
Now, CBS News insiders on both sides of a raging newsroom fight are speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail.
Bari Weiss (pictured) defended her decision, reportedly made on Saturday, to spike a segment on the flagship news show '60 Minutes,' which criticized the Trump administration's deportation of Venezuelan migrants to an infamous El Salvador prison
In response to the eleventh-hour cancellation, '60 Minutes' journalist Sharyn Alfonsi (pictured with 60 Minutes cast, far-left), who reported the piece, wrote an angry missive to fellow staffers on Sunday, accusing Weiss of bending to pressure from the White House
One 60 Minutes editor lamented that CBS News is now a 'cesspool', insisting there is no 'integrity' at the network since Weiss's arrival, warning that many employees were poised to quit.
'She talked about respecting each other,' during Monday's meeting, the editor said. 'I have no respect for anyone who buries the truth because of politics.'
Another industry executive told the Daily Mail that Weiss's handling of the situation was 'mismanagement in the extreme.'
Weiss had never worked in television journalism before landing the plum position. She is a former New York Times opinion page editor and founder of the investigative reporting and commentary website The Free Press.
The 41-year-old executive was tapped by Paramount Skyhorse CEO David Ellison in October to reform the third-place broadcast news network, in part by restoring objectivity. Weiss, it appears, may have a long way to go.
Another CBS insider, who is sympathetic to Weiss, accused 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi of fumbling the El Salvador prison story and then grandstanding after it was spiked.
The CBS insider, with a long career in investigative journalism, said Alfonsi could have easily encouraged the White House to respond to her reporting.
'The simple fix is to go to the White House briefing and ask a question or have another CBS News reporter ask a question,' the source said. 'That's investigative journalism 101.'
Indeed, that issue appears to have been central to Weiss's objection to the piece. She reportedly encouraged Alfonsi to make 'every effort' to get 'the principals' on the record, sharing contact information for border czar Tom Homan and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Another CBS insider, who is sympathetic to Weiss, accused '60 Minutes' correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi (pictured on US border in April) of fumbling the El Salvador prison story and then grandstanding after it was spiked
Pictured, police officers escorting a prisoner at the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador
Alfonsi, according to her leaked letter, viewed that request as a concession to the administration.
'What we're seeing is that "60 Minutes" is like the emperor with no clothes,' the CBS insider told the Daily Mail. 'These are not trained investigative journalists anymore.'
This is also not the first time Alfonsi has faced criticism over her work.
In 2021, she reported on Florida's COVID vaccination policy and suggested that Ron DeSantis, the governor, was swayed by a $100,000 donation from grocery chain Publix to award them a contract to provide vaccinations.
Alfonsi questioned DeSantis at a news conference where DeSantis argued that the decision to award Publix the contract was due to geography - Publix's stores were most convenient for the majority of the population, he insisted - but Alfonsi's report edited out much of his answer.
After the report aired, the Democratic mayor of Palm Beach County and the Democratic director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management said that DeSantis' office had not influenced the decision to partner with Publix.
The CBS insider critical of Alfonsi also believes that while she professed 'a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their stories' her letter to colleagues was, in fact, performative.
'The email was written to be leaked which suggests that Alfonsi wants to go out like [former 60 Minutes executive producer] Bill Owens - like a martyr,' the source said.
Bill Owens, resigned in April, later claiming he faced pressure to avoid stories that jeopardized the merger of Paramount, then-owned by Shari Redstone, with Skydance, led by David Ellision.
After Owens resigned in protest, high profile 60 Minutes presenter Scott Pelley praised Owens live on air, in a rare rebuke to corporate owners.
In the three months since Weiss's takeover of CBS News, around 100 people have been let go at the news division, and a stream of high-profile personalities have departed.
The CBS insider critical of Alfonsi also believes that while she professed 'a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their stories' her letter to colleagues was, in fact, performative
John Dickerson, an anchor on the evening news show, quit after 16 years, followed by his co-host Maurice DuBois. Weiss reportedly courted CNN's Anderson Cooper and Fox News anchor Bret Baier, but was reportedly told in no uncertain terms that they were contractually confined to their own networks. Her overture was seen my media watchers as a rookie mistake.
Though, while discontent may have escalated in recent months, it predates Weiss's arrival.
In July, CBS's new parent company Paramount agreed to a $16 million settlement with President Trump after he sued them, alleging that an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was selectively edited to make her appear more coherent.
In October, Weiss's hiring was commended by Trump himself - he said he hoped the network would be more 'fair' with her at the helm - which only served to heighten the unease among some journalists. Weiss's supporters have pushed back, arguing that she is bringing much-needed balance back to the network, and was right this weekend to pull the program.
'I held that story because it wasn't ready,' said Weiss on Monday, adding that the story '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.'
The 60 Minutes editor, who was present in the meeting, told the Daily Mail that Weiss's reasoning was 'bull****.'
'She knows it; we know it; everyone with a brain knows it,' the source said. 'She is protecting conservatives.'
The Daily Mail has reached out to CBS News for comment.
