Bari Weiss defends her decision to hold back story set to air on CBS’s ’60 Minutes’ in memo to staff

CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss is defending her decision to hold back a segment that was set to air last Sunday on “60 Minutes,” saying she thought it wasn’t ready for airing and that her goal is to win back the trust of viewers.  “Right now, the majority of Americans say they do not trust the press. It isn’t because they’re crazy,” Weiss said in a memo to her staff on Wednesday, according to The Hill and other news outlets. 
“To win back their trust, we have to work hard. Sometimes that means doing more legwork. Sometimes it means telling unexpected stories. Sometimes it means training our attention on topics that have been overlooked or misconstrued,” she continued. “And sometimes it means holding a piece about an important subject to make sure it is comprehensive and fair.”
The story in question was purportedly intended to show the harsh conditions inside the Salvadoran prison to which the Trump administration had deported several Venezuelan migrants who they said were members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
Weiss’s decision to hold the story back drew backlash from the CBS correspondent who had reported the story, Sharyn Alfonsi, and others, who called Weiss’s decision political. 
In a post on X, Alfonsi said the story had been “spiked” and that she had reached out to the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department but 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.”
But it turns out the White House had in fact responded on Thursday, three days before the story was set to air. 
“As ’60 Minutes’ finalized its ‘Inside CECOT’ report last Thursday, CBS sent the White House a request for comment. A WH spokesperson responded within a few hours. The quote was not included in the ‘60’ report – so, judge for yourself whether it should have been included,” CNN media analyst Brian Stelter, and no fan of President Trump, wrote on X Tuesday.
The statement from the White House spokesperson, according to the New York Times, was that “60 Minutes should spend their time and energy amplifying the stories of Angel Parents, whose innocent American children have tragically been murdered by vicious illegal aliens that President Trump are [sic] removing from the country.”
The story ended up airing in Canada on Monday through a streaming platform owned by Global TV, which has the rights to “60 Minutes” in Canada. CNN said that Global TV had aired it “inadvertently,” but now it is all over the internet, including on YouTube. 

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