NEW YORK (AP) — Saying “We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die,” the three remaining correspondents at have decided to stay – for now.
A memo from Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker to fellow staffers at the CBS News show expressed anger over the recent firings at the show, and said the three had had “a hard time” deciding whether to stay — but ultimately decided to remain.
“Here’s why we are staying: We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die,” the three wrote in a joint memo obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.
They expressed their regret over the recent firings of colleagues implemented by Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor-in-chief, and the executive producer she installed last week, Nick Bilton. HE replaced Tanya Simon, who was let go along after a 30-plus year tenure with the show, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, among other top staffers. Scott Pelley was then after
“We want to express how sorry we are that these principled, fair and honest journalists were treated so shabbily, with such indecency,” the three correspondents said in their memo. But they said they were “working to build trust” with Bilton, their new boss, and left open the possibility that they could leave later, if need be.
“If we can continue doing the work that made this show what it is — committing acts of independent, fearless journalism and storytelling — we’re here for it,” the three wrote. “If not, we leave.”
“Here’s to Season 59!” the note ended.
Persuading the three to remain was a crucial step in Bilton’s task of getting the show back on track for the next season, which launches in September.
The show is suddenly down four correspondents. In addition to the three dismissed, Anderson Cooper — whose primary job is on-air work for CNN — of his own accord after two decades.
Bumps had been showing at “60 Minutes” . Much of it came after President Donald Trump sued the show over with then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
That became part of a broader shakeup at CBS News after Weiss was by parent company Paramount late last year following David Ellison’s arrival as the network’s corporate leader.
Ellison’s company, , which later settled the Trump lawsuit for $16 million. That upset some at “60 Minutes” and indirectly led to of popular longtime CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, who had called the settlement “a big fat bribe.”
CBS News has been at the center of the American broadcast-news ecosystem since its radio days before the dawn of television, though Weiss earlier this year The network’s nightly newscase was seen for decades as one of the most widely trusted institutions in the nation under
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Jocelyn Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.