“60 Minutes” is in crisis now that Bari Weiss is running the News Department for the Ellisons, who are surrendering to Donald Trump.
Now the show’s correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, has written a note to her colleagues and friends to let them know why CBS at the last minute pulled her segment on CECOT, the El Salvador prison where Trump has been sending people to be tortured and killed.
There are few times in the almost 60 year history of “60 Minutes” when a segment was pulled to favor the government or business. But here we are. In the last few weeks we’ve seen the number of political reports that usually take the Trump government to task dwindle to a few.
Here is what Alfonsi wrote. I say this: we are in a desperate situation with the vindictive and fascistic Trump dictating what media can report. The Ellisons should be ashamed, but they’re not.
This will have enormous reverberations at CBS and other networks beginning now. The Ellisons and Weiss will do everything they can to dismantle CBS’s long, revered legacy.
Alfonsi’s note:
News Team,
Thank you for the notes and texts. I apologize for not reaching out earlier.
I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight. We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity.
Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now—after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.
We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story.
If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a “kill switch” for any reporting they find inconvenient.
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 a stenographer for the state.
These men risked their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.
CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that “low point.” By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones.
We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of “Gold Standard” reputation for a single week of political quiet.
I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight.
Sharyn
