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In a recent staff meeting for the Sunday news program “60 Minutes,” journalist Scott Pelley accused CBS News head Bari Weiss of “murdering the show” and grilled an executive about mass firings at the network.
The heated meeting comes as CBS News has seen a major shift rightward and increased censorship under Weiss, a right-wing commentator who was installed as editor-in-chief of the network’s news division following a Trump administration-approved merger.
The confrontation was first reported on by Status, which obtained an audio recording of the introductory meeting between “60 Minutes” staff and the show’s new executive producer Nick Bilton, who was appointed by Weiss. Bilton’s hiring came shortly after Weiss fired former executive producer Tanya Simon and other correspondents for “60 Minutes.”
During the Monday morning meeting, Pelley repeatedly interjected with his concerns, refusing to allow Bilton to read his prepared remarks to staff.
Referring to the mass firings at the network last week — what some have dubbed “Black Thursday” — Pelley asked Bilton to explain what he knew about the firings, and to provide insights regarding the future of the program.
Bilton defended Weiss’s actions.
“Bari loves this institution. She loves ’60 Minutes,’” he claimed.
Pelley rejected that assessment. “She’s murdering ’60 Minutes,’” he asserted. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it — and she’s doing exactly that.”
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CBS News managing editor Charles Forelle responded by calling Pelley rude for interrupting the meeting. “This is not actually productive,” Forelle said.
Pelley rejected that premise, too. “It’s working for me,” he said.
The journalist added:
I’m not being rude. You know what was rude? Black Thursday. That was the absolute definition of rudeness. … That was rude. This is a conversation. That is rude, and you were part of that.
The incident showcases the dysfunction at CBS, as Weiss and the new management struggle to create a profitable product while changing the tone of the network’s reporting to be friendlier to President Donald Trump.
Pelley’s remarks come just days after student journalist Santiago Campos called out the network while being awarded the Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship in New York City last week.
“While I want to thank CBS News for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to also acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship,” Campos said.
He added:
As corporate elites take hold over the very pipes through which our information flows, journalism that serves the people becomes increasingly harder to come by, yet ever more crucial. And what the people want is the truth.
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