Whither ‘60 Minutes’? As turmoil unspools in public, CBS News show’s
ultimate health is debated
[June 04, 2026]
By JOCELYN NOVECK
NEW YORK (AP) — “This is ‘60 Minutes,’” Harry Reasoner announced on
Sept. 24, 1968, introducing his new CBS News show alongside fellow
correspondent Mike Wallace. “It’s kind of a magazine for television.”
He added: “We do think this is sort of a new approach.”
More than a half-century and 58 seasons later, that same term — “new
approach” — is being deployed by CBS News leader Bari Weiss to explain
her sweeping changes at the most renowned news program in TV history:
firing the top producer and two correspondents, among others, and
installing a new chief with no TV broadcast experience. Now, one of the
show’s most famous faces, Scott Pelley, is gone too — fired after a
tense confrontation with bosses.
“We realize, of course, that new approaches are not always instantly
accepted,” Reasoner said on that night in 1968. And Weiss’ “new
approach” has been greeted with biting criticism from some corners.
Moreover, the turmoil has become a top news story in itself, with
competing narratives flying — none of them flattering to CBS News.
The essential question percolating on Wednesday: Where does “60 Minutes”
go from here? Can it stop being the story, get back to work and retain
its reputation for probing journalism and its legendary success atop the
news food chain? Or is its famous ticking timer, as some fear, literally
running out?
Is it crumbling, or evolving?
To one prominent analyst of TV news, it seemed Wednesday that something
had already evaporated — if only, perhaps, a long-held perception that
“60 Minutes,” which manages to be both old-school and pugnacious, was
something essentially untouchable.
“My first response is, it started in 1968 — not a bad run,” said Robert
Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television
and Popular Culture. “Because it really does look like this is
systematically deconstructing what (the show) was."
But, he quickly added: “I don’t think we’re writing the obituary of ‘60
Minutes.' I think there’s just too much value and voltage built into
that brand.”
He felt, though, that there were concerning signs. The show is suddenly
down four correspondents. Three have been dismissed, including Pelley,
and Anderson Cooper is leaving of his own accord. There have also been
unsettling accusations launched by Pelley. “New management has
instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive
story,” the correspondent and former evening news anchor contended in a
statement Tuesday. “I’ve been told to include assertions that are
unverified.”
CBS News denied the charge. “There is no political interference at CBS
News, not from ownership, not from Bari Weiss," said a statement from a
spokesperson Wednesday night. "The only ‘interference’ is the normal
back and forth between editor and correspondent that happens in every
newsroom.”
To Jeff Fager, former executive producer of “60 Minutes” and author of a
book on the show, a major deficit will be the loss of Pelley himself.
“I can’t imagine running ‘60 Minutes’ without Scott,” said Fager, author
of “Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television’s Most
Influential News Broadcast.”
“His is the most remarkable body of work in the history of the
broadcast,” Fager said. “It’s hobbled without him.”
Internal blemishes are suddenly on display
A dizzying week of public airing of dirty laundry continued Wednesday
with remarks from Weiss to staff about Pelley’s firing — and Pelley's
response to those remarks. In a transcript seen by The Associated Press,
Weiss began a morning editorial call by saying she was “only interested
in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect."
“That foundation was broken on Monday, and despite our attempts to
engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we
weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways," Weiss said on the
call. "We did not want that to happen, but that’s the path that he
chose."
In short order, Pelley countered with his own lengthy description of
their meeting. “Bari Weiss knows what she said is not true,” he said in
a statement posted by New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin. “In the
meeting on Tuesday, in which I was effectively fired, there was no
effort to ‘find a way back.’”
[to top of second column]
|
This image released by CBS News shows Bari Weiss at the CBS
News/Politico reception ahead of the White House correspondents
dinner in Washington on April 25, 2026. (Mary Kouw/CBS News via AP)
 Turmoil had been evident at “60
Minutes” for more than a year, after President Donald Trump sued the
show over its editing of a 2024 interview with then-Democratic
presidential candidate Kamala Harris. It became part of a broader
upheaval at CBS News after Weiss was named to the new role of
editor-in-chief by parent company Paramount late last year following
David Ellison's arrival as the network's corporate leader.
Ellison's company, Skydance, merged with CBS parent company
Paramount, which later settled the Trump lawsuit for $16 million,
angering some at “60 Minutes" — and indirectly leading to the
departure last month of popular CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert,
who had called the settlement “a big fat bribe.”
Discord at the show burst into public view last Thursday, when Weiss
and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski announced their changes aimed
at “building a show that thrives in the 21st century.”
They installed Nick Bilton, a former technology columnist and
documentarian, as executive producer, replacing Tanya Simon, a
30-year veteran of the show who’d been in the top job about a year.
Also let go were correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment about
Trump administration deportees in a Salvadoran prison had been
abruptly pulled by Weiss before running a month later, and Cecilia
Vega.
Four days later, a Monday morning staff meeting exploded into
acrimony when Pelley confronted Bilton, saying he had little
relevant experience for the job. When Bilton told the meeting that
“Bari loves this institution,” Pelley countered, according to
accounts of recordings: “She’s murdering ‘60 Minutes.’ She does not
love this place. She was brought in to kill it and she’s doing
exactly that.”
That led to Weiss, Bilton and others calling Pelley in for the
Tuesday meeting, after which he was fired. Weiss and Bilton did not
answer interview requests Wednesday.
Reaction, though, pinballed across the media industry. “This is
David Ellison's ‘60 Minutes’ now,” CNN media critic Brian Stelter
wrote in his newsletter Wednesday.
Despite statements, the show's direction is uncertain
So what does the future look like for the show? In her staff call
Wednesday, Weiss praised some of Pelley’s work on recent
“unforgettable stories” and promised Bilton would be delivering that
kind of work “in season 59 with the amazing team that’s still there
and hopefully from some new people that are going to be joining us.”
There was no word on those additions. A much larger question was
whether the disarray at “60 Minutes” would prove, over time, to be
more political in nature — Pelley and others have accused the new
leaders of trying to gain favor with the Trump administration — or
more of a generational debate. Weiss and Bilton have presented the
changes as necessary to evolve with the times.
Fager, among others, worries about that narrative. The show, he
said, has done a good job adapting.
“It hasn’t been running in place — that's such a misunderstanding of
the broadcast,” he said. “We adapted on a regular basis. Every time
there’s been a new leader, there has been significant evolution."
He acknowledged that some change and evolution is always necessary.
But watching the past week's "new approach" unfold, he remains
concerned about the show’s overall future.
”I worry about it,” he said. “I’ve always thought it’s fragile, and
I don’t take it for granted.”
___
Jocelyn Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment
for The Associated Press.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
