CBS News correspondent accuses Bari Weiss of 'political' move in pulling 60 Minutes' piece
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A “60 Minutes” story on the Trump administration’s imprisonment of hundreds of deported Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador was pulled by CBS News Editor-In-Chief Bari Weiss shortly before it was scheduled to air Sunday night.The unusual decision drew a sharp rebuke from Sharyn Alfonsi, the correspondent for the piece.Alfonsi said the decision was motivated by politics, according to an email she circulated to colleagues and viewed by the Times.Alfonsi noted that the story was ready for air after being vetted by the network’s attorneys and the standards and practices department.
Hollywood Inc.The former New York Times opinion staff editor and founder of the media upstart Free Press heads into a turbulent and challenged TV news environment.“It is factually correct,” 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.”According to the CBS News press department’s description of the segment, Alfonsi spoke to released deportees who described “the brutal and torturous conditions they endured inside CECOT,” one of El Salvador’s harshest prisons.In a statement, a representative for CBS News said the report called “Inside CECOT” will air in a future “60 Minutes” broadcast.“We determined it needed additional reporting,” the representative said.Weiss viewed the segment late Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly.
She had a number of issues with story and asked for additional reporting, which could not be completed in time for airing on Sunday.A press release promoting the story went out Friday.Weiss reportedly wanted the story to have an interview with an official in President Trump’s administration.But Alonsi said in her email the program “requested responses to questions and/or interviews” ...