CBS bows again to Trump by shelving critical '60 Minutes' story

CBS News is facing accusations of censorship in favor of the Trump administration after editor-in-chief Bari Weiss decided to shelve a “60 Minutes” segment that was scheduled to air on Sunday night.

Earlier in the week, CBS had touted an upcoming report on the notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo prison, known as CECOT, in El Salvador, where the Trump administration has sent several migrants like Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Three hours before airtime CBS pulled the segment.

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“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,” reporter Sharyn Alfonsi wrote in an email to other CBS correspondents after the decision.

Weiss reportedly claimed that the story needed comment from the Trump administration, even though they had been offered a chance to respond to the story and had declined.

In her email Alfonsi said, “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.”

The New York Times reported that Weiss gave “60 Minutes” staffers personal contact information for White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, suggesting that he should be sought out for comment on the report. Miller is the racist architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, and it is notable that he is apparently close enough with Weiss for contact information to be exchanged.

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The scandalous development comes after Paramount, CBS’ parent company, personally paid President Donald Trump a $16 million settlement for a lawsuit that most media/legal experts said was frivolous. After the payoff, CBS also announced it would cancel “The Late Show” hosted by longtime critic Stephen Colbert. The Trump administration then approved Paramount’s merger with media production company Skydance.

In November, Trump did an interview with “60 Minutes,” and the network chose not to air a comment from Trump referencing his payoff.

“Actually, ‘60 Minutes’ paid me a lot of money, and you don’t have to put this on, because I don’t want to embarrass you, and I’m sure you’re not,” Trump said in the segment—accurately predicting what would happen.

Weiss is a conservative activist who runs the right-wing site The Free Press and was installed to oversee CBS News as the network’s coverage shifts to the right. Recently Weiss aired a “town hall” with Erika Kirk, head of racist conservative pressure group Turning Point USA and widow of bigoted activist Charlie Kirk. The program was a ratings flop but CBS continues to bend to the right.

Mainstream media institutions have shifted to the right over the last year, from CBS News to previously revered outlets like the Washington Post. MAGA media means a less-informed public, but these institutions do not appear to be interested in serving the public. 

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