CBS News on Sunday pulled a “60 Minutes” segment from its latest episode that was set to highlight conditions inside the notorious Salvadoran prison where the Trump administration has deported Venezuelan migrants.
The decision drew sharp backlash, including from the segment’s correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, who said the decision was “political” in a note to colleagues reviewed by several media outlets.
CBS News announced the change to the episode just hours before it was set to air. An editor’s note on the “60 Minutes” account on the social platform X notified the public that the broadcast lineup had been updated and that the “Inside CECOT” report would “air in a future broadcast.”
The New York Times reported the decision was made after Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor in chief, “requested numerous changes to the segment.” CBS News, according to a statement reported by the Times, said the piece “needed additional reporting.”
NPR, meanwhile, reported that Weiss said the segment could not air without first getting an on-the-record statement from the Trump administration.
Alfonsi pushed back on suggestions that the decision to pull the segment was an editorial one, saying in the email, “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,” she continued.
She also noted in her email that her team reached out to relevant government agencies and the White House with questions and did not get a response.
“Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story,” Alfonsi wrote. “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient.”
Alfonsi noted the program had been promoting the story on social media for days and that “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,” she wrote. “I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight.”
The Hill reached out to CBS News for comment.
Weiss released a statement Sunday night saying, “I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready,” according to The New York Times.
“My job is to make sure that all 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.
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