CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday didn’t air a planned story on Trump administration deportations of immigrants to El Salvador, pulling it only hours before airtime at the direction of new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
The story, where correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi spoke to deportees who had been sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, was held because Weiss sought to add perspective from the Trump administration, according to people at the network.
In an email sent to some colleagues and reported by multiple media outlets, Alfonsi said she’d learned on Saturday that Weiss had decided not to air it. She said her story was factually correct and cleared by CBS attorneys and news standards officials. “In my view, pulling it now — after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
The shift, publicly announced two hours before the broadcast aired, is sure to increase scrutiny on Weiss, the founder of the Free Press website who was installed at the top of CBS News this fall when its parent company, Paramount, was bought out.
President Donald Trump has been sharply critical of “60 Minutes.” He sued the network last fall over its interview with election opponent Kamala Harris, which was settled this summer, and recently complained about the show’s interview with former ally turned foe Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Weiss told The New York Times in a statement: “My job is to make sure that all the stories we publish are the best they can be. Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom.”
She said she looked forward to airing Alfonsi’s piece “when it’s ready.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.