CBS defends pulling 60 Minutes segment about Trump deportations

CBS News is facing scrutiny after removing a segment from its flagship Sunday show about the Trump administration’s deportations of Venezuelan men to a detention center in El Salvador.

Editor Bari Weiss’ last-minute decision drew widespread criticism, including from the CBS correspondent who reported the story.

Sharyn Alfonsi, the CBS reporter, told colleagues on Sunday that the decision was “political,” according to a private memo leaked to the media.

CBS had promoted the segment on social media ahead of its scheduled broadcast on 60 Minutes, but said in a statement Monday that the story required additional reporting.

The program aimed to document allegations of “brutal conditions and torture” at El Salvador’s terrorist containment center, known as CECOT.

The Trump administration deported about 250 Venezuelan men there earlier this year, accusing them of being members of a dangerous gang.

Reports published since the spring, including by the BBC, have documented allegations of abuse at the detention center.

The 60 Minutes report, entitled “Inside CECOT”, will be broadcast in an upcoming program, CBS News said in its press release.

“Publishing stories that are not ready for whatever reason — whether they lack context, for example, or are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom,” Ms. Weiss said in a statement.

“I look forward to releasing this important piece when it is ready,” she said.

CBS News has a partnership agreement with the BBC, which means news content, including video footage, can be shared. BBC News is editorially independent from CBS.

Ms. Weiss told colleagues at an editorial meeting Monday morning that the segment on the Salvadoran prison “did not move things forward” and required more interviews.

“We need to be able to record the principals and film them,” she said, according to statements reviewed by the BBC.

Ms. Alfonsi, in her memo to colleagues on Sunday, said her team contacted the White House, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, but that government officials declined to be interviewed for this story. The 60 Minutes segment was approved by lawyers and CBS standards editors, she added.

“If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to publish a story, we have effectively given them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find embarrassing,” Ms. Alfonsi wrote.

The latest 60 Minutes controversy adds to the scrutiny on CBS News since the broadcaster was acquired earlier this year as part of a broader merger with Paramount.

It is now led by David Ellison, the son of tech billionaire and Trump ally Larry Ellison, whose relationship with the president has been closely scrutinized as he strives to build a media empire.

It is currently seeking to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns television networks including CNN. Paramount said Monday that Larry Ellison would provide a personal guarantee of more than $40 billion for the deal.

The Ellisons’ previous purchase of Paramount was approved by the Trump administration this summer, after Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with his 2024 presidential rival, Kamala Harris. Trump claimed the interview was misleadingly edited to benefit Democrats.

To win approval for the deal, Mr. Ellison agreed to appoint an independent ombudsman at CBS to review complaints of bias and pledged to regulators that programming would reflect a diversity of viewpoints.

Mr. Ellison gained attention in October when he named Ms. Weiss, a former opinion editor at The New York Times and founder of the digital start-up The Free Press, editor-in-chief of CBS News.

Ms. Weiss, who has criticized broadcast media for being too partisan and liberal, previously said she wanted to change CBS’ editorial decision-making process.

Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, who represents Hawaii, was among the lawmakers who weighed in on the controversy.

“What is happening to CBS is a terrible embarrassment,” he wrote on social media on Sunday. “If executives think they can create shareholder value by avoiding journalism that might offend the Mad King, they are about to learn a hard lesson.”