Overview
- Current and former CBS News staff are circulating a petition to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison that they plan to send in early January, urging a public commitment to newsroom independence.
- The letter criticizes editor-in-chief Bari Weiss for proposing the segment be held until it included a White House official and for recommending an interview with Stephen Miller, who later called for CBS firings.
- The 60 Minutes piece on migrants deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison was pulled hours before its December 21 broadcast after months of reporting by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.
- Alfonsi told colleagues the story had cleared legal and standards reviews and argued that government silence constitutes a response rather than a veto.
- Weiss has defended the hold as routine standards work to add context and critical voices, and CBS News and Paramount have not commented on the petition as the segment remains withheld.