Report: 60 Minutes Staffers Furious

Brian Stelter, CNN's chief media analyst, published a detailed article Monday titled "Inside the Bari Weiss decision that led to a ‘60 Minutes’ crisis." The story covers a major internal controversy at CBS News, where Bari Weiss (who became CBS News editor-in-chief in October 2025 following Paramount's acquisition of her media company, The Free Press) decided to shelve a "60 Minutes" segment at the last minute.

Key Details from Stelter's Report:

• The segment, titled “INSIDE CECOT,” was reported by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi. It focused on the conditions inside CECOT, a notorious maximum-security prison in El Salvador, where the Trump administration had deported Venezuelan men (including allegations of torture and brutal treatment).
• The story had been in development for weeks, screened multiple times, cleared by legal and standards teams, and even promoted publicly by CBS ahead of its planned airdate on Sunday, December 21, 2025.

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  Bari Weiss

  Weiss reportedly got personally involved in political stories after President Trump criticized a recent "60 Minutes" interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
• On Saturday, Weiss raised concerns about the lack of response from the Trump administration (e.g., no on-the-record comment from officials like Stephen Miller) and suggested adding such a perspective.
• The decision to pull the story was finalized hours before airtime, with a different segment substituted.
• Alfonsi sent an internal memo calling the move "political" and a "betrayal" of sources, arguing that government refusal to comment shouldn't kill a story (and that it was factually correct and ready).
• Weiss defended the decision in a staff call on December 22, stating the story "was not ready," didn't "advance the ball" (as similar reporting existed from outlets like The New York Times), and lacked sufficient context or critical voices.

Fallout

• Staff at "60 Minutes" and CBS News were reportedly furious, with some threatening to quit over what they saw as corporate censorship or capitulation to political pressure.
• The incident sparked widespread media criticism, with figures like Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) calling it an "embarrassment."

Stelter's reporting drew from sources inside CBS and included details from Alfonsi's memo and the staff call transcript.