• Facebook
• Twitter
• Threads
• Flipboard
• Comments
• Print
• Email
• Add Fox News on Google

CBS, '60 Minutes' face backlash after pulling El Salvador prison segment

Fox News' Nate Foy joins 'America's Newsroom' to report on CBS postponing a '60 Minutes' segment on El Salvador's maximum security prison.

CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss addressed the growing furor on Monday over her decision to delay the airing of a "60 Minutes" segment about the brutal El Salvador prison CECOT, telling staffers the story was "not ready" and it was unacceptable to engage in disagreements without respect.

Weiss has angered CBS staffers, in particular "60 Minutes" correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, by delaying the airing of a planned segment, "Inside CECOT," that featured interviews with Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to the notorious prison. Alfonsi lashed out at Weiss in a note to fellow "60 Minutes" staffers that accused Weiss of "political" meddling and corporate censorship.

Weiss addressed the elephant in the room, according to a CBS News source, on Monday morning.

"I want to say something about trust: our trust for each other and our trust with the public. The only newsroom I’m interested in running is one in which we are able to have contentious disagreements about the thorniest editorial matters with respect, and, crucially, where we assume the best intent of our colleagues. Anything else is absolutely unacceptable," she said, according to CNN, in comments confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

'60 MINUTES' REPORTER LASHES OUT AT BARI WEISS AFTER SEGMENT ON EL SALVADOR PRISON YANKED AT LAST MINUTE

CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

"I held a ‘60 Minutes’ story because it was not ready. While the story presented powerful testimony of torture at CECOT, it did not advance the ball — the [New York] Times and other outlets have previously done similar work. The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment at this prison. To run a story on this subject two months later, we need to do more. And this is ‘60 Minutes.’ We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera. Our viewers come first. Not the listing schedule or anything else. That’s my north star and I hope it’s yours, too." 

Alfonsi's memo to her colleagues quickly went viral on Sunday night. She insisted her story had met rigorous standards and was being delayed because of politics. According to The New York Times, Weiss viewed the segment on Thursday and raised concerns about the lack of a Trump voice in the story, and ultimately decided on Saturday to hold it from airing.

"Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices," Alfonsi wrote. "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."

Alfonsi added she had reached out to the White House, Department of Homeland Security and State Department for interviews, and their silence was effectively a statement that shouldn't veto the story from airing.

"We have been promoting this story on social media for days," Alfonsi wrote. "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."

BARI WEISS REPORTEDLY 'STUNNED' '60 MINUTES' CREW BY ASKING WHY THE COUNTRY THINKS THEY'RE 'BIASED': REPORT

Sharyn Alfonsi has accused Bari Weiss, right, of holding her "60 Minutes" story for political, not editorial, reasons. (Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images;Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press)

She also invoked the infamous Jeffrey Wigand incident — made famous in the 1999 movie "The Insider" — when "60 Minutes" was pressured by corporate executives not to air an interview with the tobacco industry whistleblower.

The CECOT story's delay has drawn intense media interest, leading multiple news sites Sunday night and Monday morning. "CBS Mornings" briefly addressed the story on Monday morning as well.

CBS News told Fox News Digital, "The '60 Minutes' report on 'Inside CECOT' will air in a future broadcast. We determined it needed additional reporting."

It marks the most controversial moment yet of Weiss' short but bumpy tenure, which has seen her challenge staffers on liberal bias and secure high-profile interviews with figures like President Donald Trump and Erika Kirk. She's also fallen under the microscope of left-leaning news sites who are suspicious of her heterodox opinion background, as well as suspect corporate meddling from Paramount CEO David Ellison.

Weiss was appointed to the top position at CBS News in October after Paramount acquired her site, The Free Press. Paramount merged with Skydance Media earlier this year and is now making moves to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

TONY DOKOUPIL BECOMES LATEST IN REVOLVING DOOR OF ANCHORS TASKED TO REVIVE 'CBS EVENING NEWS'

• ·镇魂街破晓礼包码是什么 最新2024礼包码一览
• ·非洲猪瘟“流窜” 又有两A股公司发生疫情
• ·媒体人：听说茹萨确定去成都蓉城 周定洋仍有离队可能
• ·炉石传说兑换码怎么获得 炉石传说兑换码2024最新大全
• ·奶茶“第一股”香飘飘“搞餐饮” 拟设公司经营小吃
• ·“桦加沙”二次登陆广西北海沿海 登陆时强度为热带风暴
• ·UFC无限制格斗113期录像 格拉斯哥主场全程录像
• ·迪桑特全球旗舰店"未来之城"于北京华贸正式揭幕
• ·"สัดส่วนทองคำ" มาตรวัดความงาม ?
• ·精选足篮专家：永强13连红预测足彩 辉红论球9连红
• ·《刺客信条：英灵殿》Steam当前在线超1.6万人 远超《刺客信条：影》
• ·玩家要学会和队友合作
• ·墨西哥列车脱轨事故已造成至少13人死亡
• ·华宇马业与马主董恩喜共有赛马“步步为营”澳洲勇夺第三冠
• ·印尼大师赛国羽三金收官，中国男双柳暗花明，女双混双后继乏人
• ·远星集结首日开荒攻略