The CBS reporter who led the story removed from "60 Minutes" calls pulling it a "political" decision.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Reposted by Mike Masnick
https://bsky.app/profile/mmasnick.bsky.social

Nathan Goldwag
‪@goldwagnathan.bsky.social‬

This is what Bari Weiss et al think "censorship" actually is; when subordinates criticize their superiors. That has been the bedrock of the entire "cancel culture" discourse in elite media; rage at the idea that students, women, journalists, interns, etc might be able to speak against the boss.

‪Don Moynihan‬
‪@donmoyn.bsky.social‬
· 49m
The CBS reporter who led the story calls pulling it a "political" decision.
"The decision was made after Bari Weiss, the new editor in chief of CBS News, requested numerous changes to the segment."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/business/60-minutes-trump-bari-weiss.html

“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Ms. Alfonsi wrote in the note, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. “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.”
ALT
10:24 PM · Dec 21, 2025

This is what Bari Weiss et al think "censorship" actually is; when subordinates criticize their superiors. That has been the bedrock of the entire "cancel culture" discourse in elite media; rage at the idea that students, women, journalists, interns, etc might be able to speak against the boss.

— Nathan Goldwag (@goldwagnathan.bsky.social) 2025-12-22T03:24:49.555Z

Don Moynihan
‪@donmoyn.bsky.social‬

The CBS reporter who led the story calls pulling it a "political" decision.
"The decision was made after Bari Weiss, the new editor in chief of CBS News, requested numerous changes to the segment."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/business/60-minutes-trump-bari-weiss.html

“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Ms. Alfonsi wrote in the note, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. “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.”
ALT

‪60 Minutes‬
‪@60minutes.bsky.social‬
· 6h
An Editor’s Note from 60 Minutes

The broadcast lineup for tonight’s edition of 60 Minutes has been updated. Our report “Inside CECOT” will air in a future broadcast.
ALT
10:10 PM · Dec 21, 2025

The CBS reporter who led the story calls pulling it a "political" decision.
"The decision was made after Bari Weiss, the new editor in chief of CBS News, requested numerous changes to the segment."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...

— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn.bsky.social) 2025-12-22T03:10:57.408Z

Anna Bower
‪@annabower.bsky.social‬

“These men risked their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their
stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.”

‪Anna Bower‬
‪@annabower.bsky.social‬
· 33m
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:

News Team,
Thank you for the notes and texts. I apologize for not reaching out earlier.
I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight. We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity.
Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. 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.
We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed
to kill the story.
If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we
ALT

have effectively handed them a "kill switch" for any reporting they find inconvenient.
If the standard for airing a story becomes
"the government must agree to be
interviewed," then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast.
We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state.
These men risked their lives to speak with us.
We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their
stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.
CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that "low point." By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones.
ALT

We have been promoting this story on social media for days. 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.
I care too much about this broadcast to watch
it be dismantled without a fight.
Sharyn
ALT
10:42 PM · Dec 21, 2025

“These men risked their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their
stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.”

— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) 2025-12-22T03:42:52.406Z

Anna Bower
‪@annabower.bsky.social‬

Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:

News Team,
Thank you for the notes and texts. I apologize for not reaching out earlier.
I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight. We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity.
Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. 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.
We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed
to kill the story.
If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we
ALT

have effectively handed them a "kill switch" for any reporting they find inconvenient.
If the standard for airing a story becomes
"the government must agree to be
interviewed," then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast.
We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state.
These men risked their lives to speak with us.
We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their
stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.
CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that "low point." By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones.
ALT

We have been promoting this story on social media for days. 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.
I care too much about this broadcast to watch
it be dismantled without a fight.
Sharyn
ALT
10:37 PM · Dec 21, 2025

Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:

— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) 2025-12-22T03:37:37.741Z

Don Moynihan
‪@donmoyn.bsky.social‬

Here is a gift link to the NYT article about Weiss killing a fact-checked story because it was not sympathetic enough to an presidential administration in the midst of deciding about another corporate merger that CBS's owners are trying to win.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/business/60-minutes-trump-bari-weiss.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-k8.OfxV.ZsKyQthh0JNi&smid=url-share

‘60 Minutes’ Pulled a Segment. A Correspondent Calls It ‘Political.’
www.nytimes.com
10:30 PM · Dec 21, 2025

Here is a gift link to the NYT article about Weiss killing a fact-checked story because it was not sympathetic enough to an presidential administration in the midst of deciding about another corporate merger that CBS's owners are trying to win.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...

— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn.bsky.social) 2025-12-22T03:30:48.323Z

[vapor2]

1. Who Knew?

100% political

[highplainsdem]

2. K&R

[dem4decades]

3. I pity any CBS News person that has to stay for financial reasons.

Because the ones that stay because they llike the new policies suck ass. Why am I thinking of Tony Dekoupal?

[yellow dahlia]

4. The authoritarian take over continues.

It requires people willing to capitulate.

[chicoescuela]

5. Guess what? If they do ever broadcast this story, it will get 3 times the

regular viewers. It won’t go away.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

6. Why doesn't Weiss just go ahead and rename 60 Minutes to: 47 Minutes?

That would really please the Big Cheese.

[AZ8theist]

7. Alles fur Deutschland.

The Nazi regime continues it's assault on America.

[UTUSN]

8. Knr

[markodochartaigh]

9. Now

will a country, one-third of which is used to a diet of pure propaganda, and one-third of which has been too apathetic to listen to news, notice or care that the authoritarian creep to control US media has escalated to full-fledged goose-stepping?

[dalton99a]

10. CBS is now run by a craven, shameless right-wing whore.

[Roy Rolling]

11. *Note to myself

Add CBS to the shit list.

Move over, Paramount, and install a child carrier for Bari Weiss.

[Takket]

12. Weiss is a disgrace to journalism and nothing less than a spokesperson for the white house

It is nothing less than a failing of modern society that people like Weiss can fail upwards to these positions. She played the all too familiar role now of what I call the "silenced superstar". People who create fake controversy, setting aside all facts and logic, and declare themselves aggrieved in some way so they can make a name for themselves in the MAGAsphere. Weiss was nothing more than a little known person at the NYT but put all ethics aside and realized bullshitting people could move her up in the world, and that is what this charlatan has done, to where she is now spiking stories at 60 minutes, and people with real history and expertise in journalism have little they can do but accept it. Weiss running the CBS news room is a little like a 12 year old being handed the reigns of an NFL football team, and the other coaches and players having nothing they can do but follow orders as the team crashes into an 0-17 season

There needs to be a way to put people who undermine our free press like Weiss in prison. She is working alongside the government to spike not just news stories, but the first amendment as a whole. We are supposed to have a free press. Not one where the government killing our first amendment becomes an "inside job" from rats inside the newsroom.

[Arazi]

13. This morning Bari Weiss told a 30 yr veteran 60 Minutes journalist that she sucks

And doesn’t know how to do her job.

Don’t forget Bari Weiss has ZERO journalism experience.

Zero vs 30 years

Bari Weiss, cont'd: "I held that story because it wasn't ready. The story presented very powerful testimony of abuse in CECOT, but that testimony has already been reported... The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment in this prison... we simply need to do more."

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona.bsky.social) 2025-12-22T14:21:00.655Z

[ihaveaquestion]

14. Ms Alfonsi is very brave to send even an email to her staff criticizing the cancellation.

Kudos to her for standing up to her bosses. And thank goodness the NYT published her email. This will offer her some protection for her job. I only hope it is protection enough to give her time to find another position, which she should start looking for right away.

[Initech]

15. WRONG! It was an ass kissing decision.

They did this because they knew if they aired it, the fucking screaming baby would pull their broadcasting license or sue them for a billion dollars, because he's that much of a worthless fucking asshole.

[mdbl]

16. I ignore anything from CBS or Paramount

The only thing I will watch is Colbert on Youtube until he's off the air at the end of his contract.