Bari Weiss once again defended pulling Sunday’s “60 Minutes” story on CECOT, this time in an internal Christmas Eve memo with fellow CBS News leadership.
Signed by Tom Cibrowski, Charles Forelle, Adam Rubenstein and editor-in-chief Weiss, their message explained the editorial decision as one that was made in an effort to restore the integrity of the news.
“Right now, the majority of Americans say they do not trust the press. It isn’t because they’re crazy,” the staff memo began. “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. And sometimes it means holding a piece about an important subject to make sure it is comprehensive and fair.”
“In our upside-down moment, this may seem radical. Such editorial decisions can cause a firestorm, particularly on a slow news week,” it continued. “And the standards for fairness we are holding ourselves to, particularly on contentious subjects, will surely feel controversial to those used to doing things one way. But to fulfill our mission, it’s necessary.”
Indeed, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi and executive producer Tanya Simon’s package on President Donald Trump’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison was shelved (in America, at least) over the weekend, with Weiss suggesting the piece was not ready and “did not advance the ball.”
“No amount of outrage — whether from activist organizations or the White House — will derail us. We are not out to score points with one side of the political spectrum or to win followers on social media. We are out to inform the American public and to get the story right,” the Wednesday message further noted. “Restoring the integrity of the news is a difficult task. We can’t think of a more important one.”
It concluded, “Merry Christmas — and thank you, especially, to everyone who is working over this holiday.”
CBS previously told TheWrap the report was pulled because it required additional reporting.
