Topline<\/p>\n
CBS News fired top \u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondent Scott Pelley on Tuesday, after the senior journalist and former anchor called out Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and accused her of \u201cmurdering \u201860 Minutes\u2019\u201d after she ousted its leadership team and hired tech journalist Nick Bilton to lead the show. <\/p>\n
Scott Pelley attends the CBS Fall Schedule Celebration at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n
WireImageKey Facts<\/p>\n
According to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>, Bilton, the new \u201c60 Minutes\u201d Executive Producer, informed Pelley on Tuesday that he was being fired \u201cfor cause, effective immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n Pelley had reportedly clashed<\/a> with Bilton during an explosive staff meeting earlier this week, saying he has \u201cslender\u201d qualifications for the job and confronted him about the firing of some of long-time \u201c60 Minutes\u201d producers. <\/p>\n The New York Times also confirmed<\/a> the firing citing a phone conversation with Pelley, who talked about his \u201cdevotion\u201d to \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d citing his reporting work from various war zones.<\/p>\n In his letter to Pelley, Bilton accused the journalist of hijacking his first meeting to \u201cdisparage\u201d him and making a \u201cperformative display of hostility.\u201d <\/p>\n In a memo<\/a> sent to \u201c60 Minutes\u201d staffers, Bilton claimed he made \u201crepeated attempts\u201d to have direct talks with the senior correspondent over the weekend to \u201cfind common ground\u201d but was allegedly rebuffed.<\/p>\n CBS News has not yet commented on Pelley\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n What Do We Know About The Fiery Staff Meeting?<\/p>\n At a staff meeting<\/a> on Monday, Pelley reportedly confronted Bilton about the firings of the show\u2019s long-time producers and fellow correspondents. When Bilton suggested that Weiss \u201cloves this institution,\u201d Pelley reportedly shot back, \u201cShe is murdering \u201860 Minutes.\u2019\u201d Pelley then proceeded to call out Weiss, who was not at the meeting and said she \u201cdoesn\u2019t love this place\u201d and alleged that she was brought in by the network\u2019s new owner, David Ellison, to \u201ckill\u201d the news division, \u201cand she\u2019s been doing exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n What Has Pelley Said About His Firing?<\/p>\n In a statement shared with media outlets, Pelley said<\/a>: \u201c\u201860\u2019 has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories.\u201d The journalist and former anchor then accused CBS\u2019 new owners of \u201ccasting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration. The waste is heartbreaking.\u201d Pelley 60 Minutes has lost its DNA with the recent firing of its leadership and \u201ctwo of our best on-air correspondents\u2026without cause.\u201d Pelley also accused the new management of instructing him to \u201c inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story,\u201d which he says he ignored.<\/p>\n Tangent<\/p>\n Pelley\u2019s firing adds to the recent exodus of senior staffers from \u201c60 Minutes\u201d which has become the subject of a major overhaul by Weiss. The CBS News editor in chief has said he want\u2019s to remake the show so that it \u201cthrives in the 21st century.\u201d This is despite the weekly show being a ratings hit\u2014with the most recent episode garnering 5.9 million live viewers<\/a> and consistently being the the most-watched non-sports program the country. In contrast, \u201cCBS Evening News,\u201d which Weiss overhauled last year with a new handpicked anchor, Tony Dokoupil, has struggled with its ratings<\/a>. Recent ousters include two other \u201860 Minutes\u2019 correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, former executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich and others.<\/p>\n Key Background<\/p>\n Pelley\u2019s firing follows a series of other controversies impacting CBS News since David Ellison\u2019s acquisition of the network\u2019s parent, Paramount, last year. Ellison also acquired Weiss\u2019 online publication \u201cThe Free Press\u201d and brought her on board as the editor in chief of CBS\u2019s news division. Since taking over, Weiss has enacted many sweeping changes at CBS News, many of which have been controversial. One of the biggest controversies of her tenure occurred last year<\/a> after she directed the network to pull a segment of \u201c60 Minutes\u201d just before it was set to air. The segment was focused on highlighting the harsh conditions faced by migrants deported from the U.S. by the Trump administration and sent to a maximum security prison in El Salvador. Weiss reportedly sought additions to the story including interview with Trump administration officials and later told the New York Times<\/a> that it was lacking \u201csufficient context\u201d and \u201cmissing critical voices.\u201d Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, who worked on the story sent an internal note to \u201860 Minutes\u2019 staffers saying, \u201cIn my view, pulling it now\u2014after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.\u201d<\/p>\n Further Reading<\/p>\n CBS News Fires Scott Pelley of \u201860 Minutes\u2019<\/a> (New York Times)<\/p>\n