Tanya Simon – from X
Even though 60 Minutes is the highest rated news show on television Bari Weiss, who was installed last year as the editor in chief of CBS News, is dying to fix it. The repairs, needed or not, appear to have begun.
As expected, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi has been shown the door a few months after she clashed with Weiss over the editing of a story on the CECOT prison in El Salvador. Weiss held the story back for nearly a month, because it did not include an on-camera interview with a member of the Trump administration. The Trump team hoped that by refusing to appear on camera CBS would kill the story – and it almost worked.
Sensing her days were numbered, Alfonsi released a public statement claiming the decision not to renew her contract was retaliation for standing up for high standards.
Thursday it was announced that correspondent Cecilia Vega will not be returning next season and in a move that can only be seen as an effort to drive a stake through the heart of the 60 Minutes legacy, Tanya Simon, the show’s executive producer was fired. She is the daughter of former 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon and she has been with the show for thirty years.
Ms. Simon is being replaced by Nick Bilton, a former technology correspondent for The New York Times, who like Weiss has no television news experience.
The future of veteran correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and Scott Pelley are unknown at this time.
