\n<\/p>\n
The Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi has accused CBS News of penalizing her for \u201crefusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting\u201d and sending a \u201cchilling message\u201d to the newsroom by declining to renew her contract for the show.<\/p>\n
Alfonsi was at the center of a national firestorm after the CBS News editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, shelved a segment she had reported on a notorious prison in El Salvador. She confirmed to the Guardian that she had not been offered a contract to return for the show\u2019s 59th season, which begins in the fall.<\/p>\n
Her contract expired on Saturday, and a source close to Alfonsi said her team had not heard from CBS recently. Still, she remains employed by the network, and has said she had no plans to resign, meaning that CBS News would have to terminate her. (The New York Times first reported that she had not been offered a new contract.)<\/p>\n
On Wednesday morning, Alfonsi issued a lengthy statement criticizing the network\u2019s decision-making and leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the weekend, my contract with CBS News expired, drawing to a close nearly twenty years with the network, including more than a decade at 60 Minutes,\u201d Alfonsi wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing an intense editorial dispute over our [prison story], repeated attempts by my representation to establish a path forward were met with absolute silence from network executives. The message could not be clearer: my time at 60 Minutes is apparently over.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the coming days, network leadership may attempt to hide behind corporate euphemisms like \u2018modernization\u2019 and \u2018restructuring\u2019 to explain away my departure. Don\u2019t be misled. This was not a routine corporate transition; it was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting, and it sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cFearless, independent reporting has always been the defining standard at 60 Minutes. Today, CBS management is abandoning that mission, choosing access journalism over accountability and protecting power rather than scrutinizing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe wall between editorial independence and corporate interest at CBS is being methodically torn down. Journalists willing to challenge authority are being pushed aside in favor of those who will not. If this continues, the result will be a broadcast that looks like 60 Minutes but lacks the courage and character to produce journalism that matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo my colleagues, who became family \u2013 working beside you has been the privilege of a lifetime. You are second to none. I\u2019ve learned exactly what it costs to hold the line right now. Hold it anyway. Viewers and the people who trust us with their stories deserve nothing less.\u201d<\/p>\n
CBS has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n
Alfonsi\u2019s exit was expected as part of a broader shake-up of the show that insiders fear could hurt its standing at the top of the US television hierarchy. After the December segment was shelved, Alfonsi accused Weiss of doing so for \u201cpolitical\u201d reasons. During a speech in Washington late last month, Alfonsi went even further, decrying \u201cthe spread of corporate meddling and editorial fear\u201d at CBS News.<\/p>\n
While not naming her bosses at CBS News, Alfonsi spoke about \u201ccorporate calculations\u201d happening at media companies these days. \u201cSome executives are asking not: \u2018Is the story true?\u2019 But: \u2018Is it good for business?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cRight now, our industry is afraid of the wrong things. We\u2019re afraid of offending power. We\u2019re afraid of losing access. We\u2019re afraid of another baseless lawsuit. But what we should all be afraid of is silence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alfonsi\u2019s reporting had not appeared on the final three episodes of the show\u2019s 58th season, which concluded on 17 May. Her last piece was a 26 April segment about highly sought-after pigeons that compete in speed contests and the criminals who seek to steal them.<\/p>\n
Because her contract has lapsed, Alfonsi is now eligible to seek employment elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The show\u2019s 59th season, which begins in the fall, will also be without veteran correspondent Anderson Cooper, who opted to leave the show.<\/p>\n
In an online piece tied to his exit, Cooper said that \u201cthe independence of 60 Minutes has been critical\u201d, comments that were seen as critical of the network\u2019s management.<\/p>\n
Cooper also seemed to nod to potential changes at the program. \u201cI hope 60 Minutes remains 60 Minutes,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are very few things that have been around for as long as 60 Minutes has and maintained the quality that it has. And things can always evolve and change, and I think that\u2019s awesome, and things should evolve and change, but I would hope the core of what 60 Minutes is always remains.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi has accused CBS News of penalizing her for \u201crefusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting\u201d and sending a \u201cchilling message\u201d to the newsroom by declining to renew her contract for the show. Alfonsi was at the center of a national firestorm after the CBS News editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, shelved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[6536,4699,1571,8288,3279,150,24620,4864],"class_list":{"0":"post-49805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-accuses","9":"tag-cbs","10":"tag-contract","11":"tag-journalist","12":"tag-minutes","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-penalizing","15":"tag-renewed"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}