Bari Weiss Is Right to Question '60 Minutes' CECOT Report After a Year of Editorial Blunders
Most importantly, Alfonsi is right that the lack of government participation should not be a reason to cancel a story.
This past Sunday, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss abruptly pulled an investigative "60 Minutes" segment on the Trump administration’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison after the administration refused to grant an interview.
Weiss has faced both external and internal criticism for the decision, including from the segment’s correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.
Alfonsi says that Weiss' new standard will allow the Trump administration to avoid negative reporting by simply declining on-the-record participation.
"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 wrote, in comments obtained by the Washington Post.
Weiss defended the decision in a memo to staffers on Monday.
"The story presented very powerful testimony of abuse at CECOT, but that testimony has already been reported on by places like the Times. The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment in this prison. So to run a story on this subject, two months later, we simply need to do more," she said.
"And this is ‘60 Minutes.’ We need to be able to make every effort to get the principals on the record and on camera. To me, our viewers come first, not a listing schedule or anything else, and that is my North Star, and I hope it’s the North Star of every person in this newsroom."
There’s a lot here.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: The Free Press' Honestly with Bari Weiss (L) hosts Amy Chua (R) presented by Uber and X on January 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Uber, X and The Free Press)
Most importantly, Alfonsi is right that the lack of government participation should not be a reason to cancel a story. However, CBS News says the story was not canceled but delayed.
"The 60 Minutes report on ‘Inside CECOT’ will air in a future broadcast," a network spokeswoman said in a statement. "We determined it needed additional reporting."
If and when the report airs, we can assess whether the delay resulted in a worthwhile update to the conditions at CECOT.
Moreover, Alfonsi and others must understand that the "60 Minutes" staff no longer has the same benefit of the doubt it once did. Weiss's memo suggests she felt the story was unoriginal and intended mainly to criticize the Trump administration. That would be consistent with other editorial decisions made in the past year.
As OutKick detailed earlier this year, "60 Minutes" has adopted a new standard that blends journalism with an editorial bent, a combination the brand spent decades avoiding. Examples include a favorable report on the German government’s crackdown on speech, a critical essay on Trump’s cabinet members that cited claims about Tulsi Gabbard being a Russian asset, a glowing segment on DEI, and a piece suggesting sympathy for Hamas terrorists by questioning whether hostages were starved due to a lack of resources.
Given that track record, Weiss is right to intervene at "60 Minutes" and push the staff toward more original, objective reporting. While we have not seen the CECOT segment, recent patterns suggest the emphasis on political narratives and recycled material may have been a factor.
We look forward to seeing the report eventually air, and will judge Weiss accordingly.