Bari Weiss defends pulling 60 Minutes Salvadoran prison segment in Christmas memo to CBS News staff

CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss defended her recent decision to spike a “60 Minutes” segment about a notorious Salvadoran prison — telling staffers in a Christmas Eve memo the move was part of her efforts to restore trust in the press.The Post obtained a copy of the holiday email, which was co-signed by CBS News president Tom Cibrowski and two of Weiss’s newly installed deputies — former Wall Street Journal deputy editor Charles Forelle and former New York Times opinion editor Adam Rubenstein.In the missive, Weiss told staff that ensuring stories are “comprehensive and fair” may feel “radical” in today’s media environment, but is essential to the network’s mission.“Right now, the majority of Americans say they do not trust the press.It isn’t because they’re crazy,” Weiss wrote in the email sent Wednesday.“To win back their trust, we have to work hard … And sometimes it means holding a piece about an important subject to make sure it is comprehensive and fair.”Weiss acknowledged that such decisions could “cause a firestorm, particularly on a slow news week” and would “surely feel controversial to those used to doing things one way.”She also made a declaration of independence from political pressure.“No amount of outrage — whether from activist organizations or the White House — will derail us,” Weiss wrote staffers.“We are not out to score points with one side of the political spectrum or to win followers on social media.

We are out to inform the American public and to get the story right.”Weiss’s attempt at damage control follows internal backlash that erupted after she ordered a “60 Minutes” segment on El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison pulled just hours before its scheduled broadcast Sunday night.The investigation, reported by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, examined the Trump administration’s deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan men to the site.CBS said at the time that the segment neede...