Bari Weiss, the editor-in-chief at CBS News, apparently wasn’t feeling all the feels of Anderson Cooper’s emotional farewell from “60 Minutes” last week. The correspondent signed off for the last time after 20 years, nearly crying as he said “I’m Anderson Cooper” for a final time. But in an “Overtime” online segment, he also expressed hope that the venerable news show would uphold its “independence” ― which has been seriously disputed as CBS News leans right under Weiss. That’s what got the new boss “furious”
and feeling “blindsided” after she wasn’t given a heads-up on his remarks, people familiar with the matter told Status. “I hope ‘60 Minutes’ remains ‘60 Minutes,’” Cooper said. “There’s very few things that have been around for as long as ‘60 Minutes’ has, and maintain the quality that it has. . I think the independence of ‘60 Minutes’ has been critical. The trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of ‘60 Minutes.’” Top producer Bill Owens reportedly departed due to interference, and
correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi vented after Weiss pulled a segment on a notorious prison where migrants were sent by the Trump administration. (It later aired.) “In my view, it was the result of a more aggressive contagion: the spread of corporate meddling and editorial fear. It’s hard to watch,” Alfonsi said. HuffPost reached out to Weiss and CBS News for comment.
Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes, CBS News, Bari Weiss, Overtime, Bill Owens, Sharyn Alfonsi, editorial independence, corporate meddling, migrant prison segment
CBS independence?? lol okay.
So Cooper says “independence” and then she’s mad he didn’t tell her first? That seems petty. Also the migrant prison thing, I’m sure that’s gonna be spun 47 different ways.
I don’t even watch 60 Minutes anymore but this sounds like the usual corporate drama. Like if they “pulled a segment” and it later aired, doesn’t that mean Weiss wasn’t interfering that much? Or maybe she did and they just backpedaled because viewers would notice? Honestly no clue. Corporate meddling is a buzzword now.
Blindsided?? Welcome to media, Bari. Anderson’s been emotional forever and now suddenly it’s “furious” because he mentioned independence. I swear every time someone says independence it turns into a whole firing/producer drama thing. Also they keep talking about “leaning right” like that’s proven facts, but then the prison segment thing… I can’t keep up. Sounds like everyone’s mad at everyone.