Turmoil at CBS News After Bari Weiss Pulls a ‘60 Minutes’ Segment

Media|Turmoil at CBS News After Bari Weiss Pulls a ‘60 Minutes’ Segment

CBS News remained roiled on Monday by fallout from the decision by its new editor in chief, Bari Weiss, to abruptly postpone a segment of Sunday’s episode of “60 Minutes” that was critical of the Trump administration.

Amid a swirl of questions within her newsroom, Ms. Weiss was adamant that the segment, which featured the stories of Venezuelan men deported by the United States to a prison in El Salvador, was flawed and required more reporting.

“I held that story because it was not ready,” Ms. Weiss, who joined CBS News in October, told colleagues at the top of a 9 a.m. editorial call with the newsroom, according to a recording of her remarks. She said that while the testimony of the imprisoned men was “very powerful,” other news organizations had already reported their basic story.

“The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment in this prison,” Ms. Weiss said, adding that if “60 Minutes” wanted to feature the story, “we simply need to do more.”

That viewpoint found little sympathy within “60 Minutes.” The show’s staff and correspondents convened for a somber Monday afternoon meeting, where the correspondent Scott Pelley expressed frustration at Ms. Weiss’s handling of the situation and raised questions about her management style. He asked why she had weighed in at the last minute after not attending five screenings of the segment as it was being completed.

“It’s not a part-time job,” Mr. Pelley said, according to four people familiar with the discussion who requested anonymity to describe a private exchange.