Bari Weiss Defends Her Decision to Hold a ’60 Minutes’ Segment: Memo

CBS News head Bari Weiss sent a Christmas memo to staff on Wednesday defending her decision to pull a “60 Minutes” segment on the Trump administration’s use of El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.

In the memo, signed by Weiss and other CBS leadership, she wrote that the press needed to win back the public’s trust, and that “sometimes it means holding a piece about an important subject to make sure it is comprehensive and fair.”

“Right now, the majority of Americans say they do not trust the press,” she wrote. “It isn’t because they’re crazy.”

Weiss’ decision to hold the “60 Minutes” shortly before it aired led to blowback both inside and outside CBS News, which is owned by Paramount Skydance. Sharyn Alfonsi, who reported the segment, wrote in note to colleagues that the decision was a “political one,” multiple outlets reported.

Weiss said in her memo that she and other CBS News leaders are “not out to score points with one side of the political spectrum or to win followers on social media.”

The media world has heavily scrutinized Weiss’ management since she was installed atop CBS News by Paramount CEO David Ellison in October. Paramount also acquired The Free Press, the conservative-friendly news site Weiss founded after leaving The New York Times’ opinion section, for about $150 million.

Paramount is dueling with Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. President Donald Trump has said he would be involved in the regulatory review process.

Weiss added in the memo that CBS News would hold itself to a high standard of fairness and be independent.

Here’s the full text of the memo:

Hi all,

Right now, the majority of Americans say they do not trust the press. It isn’t because they’re crazy.

To win back their trust, we have to work hard. Sometimes that means doing more legwork. Sometimes it means telling unexpected stories. Sometimes it means training our attention on topics that have been overlooked or misconstrued. And sometimes it means holding a piece about an important subject to make sure it is comprehensive and fair.

In our upside-down moment, this may seem radical. Such editorial decisions can cause a firestorm, particularly on a slow news week. And the standards for fairness we are holding ourselves to, particularly on contentious subjects, will surely feel controversial to those used to doing things one way. But to fulfill our mission, it’s necessary.

No amount of outrage—whether from activist organizations or the White House—will derail us. We are not out to score points with one side of the political spectrum or to win followers on social media. We are out to inform the American public and to get the story right.

Restoring the integrity of the news is a difficult task. We can’t think of a more important one.

Merry Christmas—and thank you, especially, to everyone who is working over this holiday.

Yours,

Bari

Tom

Charles

Adam