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Saying “We don’t want to see 60 Minutes die,” the three remaining correspondents at the turmoil-plagued CBS News show have decided to stay — for now.
A memo from Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker to fellow staffers expressed anger over the recent firings at the show and said the three had “a hard time” deciding whether to stay, but ultimately decided to remain.
“Here’s why we are staying: We don’t want to see 60 Minutes die,” the three wrote in a joint memo obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.
They expressed regret over the recent firings of colleagues by Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor-in-chief, and Nick Bilton, the executive producer she installed last week.
Bilton replaced Tanya Simon, who was let go after more than 30 years with the show, along with correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, among other top staffers. Scott Pelley was fired this week after a tense confrontation with CBS News bosses.
Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley’s firing after a high-profile blowup with new management is raising more concern about journalistic freedom under CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and CBS’s Trump-aligned owner David Ellison.
“We want to express how sorry we are that these principled, fair and honest journalists were treated so shabbily, with such indecency,” the three correspondents said in their memo.
But they said they were “working to build trust” with Bilton and left open the possibility that they could leave later, if need be.
“If we can continue doing the work that made this show what it is — committing acts of independent, fearless journalism and storytelling — we’re here for it,” the three wrote. “If not, we leave.”
“Here’s to Season 59!” the note ended.
A bumpy road in recent times
Persuading the three to remain was a crucial step in Bilton’s task of getting the show back on track for its next season, which launches in September.
The show is suddenly down four correspondents. In addition to the three dismissed, Anderson Cooper — whose primary job is on-air work for CNN — said earlier this year he was leaving of his own accord after two decades.
Bumps had been showing at 60 Minutes for more than a year. Much of it came after U.S. President Donald Trump sued the show over its editing of a 2024 interview with then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
That became part of a broader shakeup at CBS News after Weiss was named to the new role of editor-in-chief by parent company Paramount late last year, following David Ellison’s arrival as the network’s corporate leader.
Ellison’s company, Skydance, merged with CBS parent company Paramount, which later settled the Trump lawsuit for $16 million US.
The settlement angered some at 60 Minutes and drew criticism from longtime CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, whose show was cancelled last month after he called it “a big fat bribe.”
CBS News has been at the centre of the U.S. broadcast news ecosystem since its radio days before the dawn of television, though Weiss earlier this year announced the shutdown of CBS News’ radio operation.
The network’s nightly newscast was seen for decades as one of the most widely trusted institutions in the nation under longtime anchorman Walter Cronkite.
