Fox Information media and political analyst Howard Kurtz joins ‘America Studies’ to debate why CBS pulled a ‘60 Minutes’ report on the Trump administration’s deportations to an El Salvador jail.
Following CBS Information’ delaying of a “60 Minutes” section analyzing the Trump administration’s deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT jail, some media retailers have raised questions on whether or not the transfer was meant to curry favor with the administration amid an escalating battle for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount and its majority shareholders, the billionaire Ellison household, just lately sweetened a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery to the tune of $108 billion. Contemplating WBD is at present transferring ahead with a deal to promote its film and streaming property to Netflix, Paramount’s bid is deemed a hostile one.
This week, Weiss created a furor over her choice to delay the airing of a “60 Minutes” section about CECOT, an uncommon transfer given the community had already begun selling the bundle forward of its anticipated Sunday evening airing.
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CBS Information editor-in-chief Bari Weiss speaks onstage throughout a E book Membership occasion with Peggy Noonan on Nov. 19, 2024, in New York Metropolis. (Noam Galai/Getty Photos for The Free Press / Getty Photos)
Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi interviewed Venezuelan males deported by the Trump administration to the infamous jail for the section, which leaked on-line Monday after airing in Canada. Alfonsi lashed out at Weiss in a memo to colleagues, saying it was a political choice and could be considered as company censorship.
Weiss informed staffers on Monday she didn’t consider the story was prepared for air and referred to as for colleagues to interact in disagreement in a respectful method. In her notes to “60 Minutes” colleagues in regards to the section, Weiss referred to as for extra aggressive efforts to get Trump officers in entrance of the digicam and decried a “unusual” portion involving evaluation of the jail by Berkeley college students. She has not referred to as for killing the section solely, however as a substitute needs extra reporting earlier than it may be aired.
Liberal media figures assume one thing rotten is afoot, with a number of breathless experiences alleging Weiss’ actions are linked to the company machinations and the Ellisons’ connections to President Donald Trump.
A Tuesday report from New York Journal’s The Intelligencer recommended that the Ellisons are vying for favorable therapy from the Trump administration by censoring the section. Larry Ellison, the billionaire father of Paramount CEO David Ellison and a Trump ally, has provided $40 billion of his personal cash as fairness to assist sweeten the deal.
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“The Ellisons, who’re among the many very richest males on the earth, bought Paramount earlier this yr and are actually after a fair larger fish: They’re hoping Trump wields his antitrust energy to scuttle Netflix’s buy of Warner Bros. Discovery and permits Paramount, as a substitute, to devour WB, creating a brand new entertainment-and-media juggernaut,” New York Journal claimed.
Oracle co-founder, CTO and Government Chairman Larry Ellison, accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump within the Roosevelt Room of the White Home on Jan. 21, 2025. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Photos)
Regardless of this alleged energy transfer, The Intelligencer argued that the Ellisons are “not but on Trump’s good facet, and that the president is “nonetheless fuming about 60 Minutes and the way it’s nonetheless not sycophantic towards him — not in the way in which he’d like.”
Certainly, Trump took a shot at “60 Minutes” on Fact Social final week, saying the present was treating him even worse than earlier than since David Ellison took over Paramount following its merger with Skydance Media this yr.
A Monday report from progressive outlet The Intercept was much more specific in its accusations of company interference associated to Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The outlet contended that Weiss’ transfer to spike the section was “an ideal instance of why Paramount’s new proprietor, David Ellison, employed her within the first place.”
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“[Weiss’] job is to suck as much as Trump, sure, however largely as a method –– not an finish in and of itself. If Trump favors CBS and Paramount, it might undermine the pending Netflix–Warner Bros. Discovery merger, assist Ellison take over WBD himself, and cement the Ellison household’s media focus to additional advance their enterprise pursuits and their right-wing ideology,” The Intercept alleged.
Paramount has just lately raised its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery to $108 billion. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Photos / Getty Photos)
The report went on to argue that Trump’s second time period has undergone “a complete abandonment of anti-trust legislation,” and that the Ellisons “have a chance to consolidate unprecedented management of media into the arms of 1 firm.”
The outlet maintained that, by way of the ability of the federal authorities’s antitrust legal guidelines, Trump might tip the scales in favor of the Ellisons within the bidding conflict for Warner Bros. Discovery.
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Based on the outlet, Weiss and Ellison’s “interference” into “60 Minutes” isn’t essentially about selling “Trumpism,” it’s about selling the Ellison agenda and rising their huge media empire.
Earlier this yr, Paramount closed an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media that required Trump administration approval.
Whereas that performed out, CBS Information, which is owned by Paramount, settled an election interference lawsuit with Trump for $16 million over the way it edited a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. The lawsuit was referred to as spurious by critics and the settlement was considered as an efficient bribe to get the merger over the end line, whereas supporters stated Trump was merely holding a liberal media outlet accountable for its dishonesty.
Paramount CEO David Ellison introduced a hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery on Dec. 8. (Charly Triballeau/AFP through Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
Weiss’ defenders on-line have stated her concepts to enhance the story have been solely affordable, and experiences that Alfonsi’s section did not embrace on-the-record responses given by the White Home, State Division and Division of Homeland Safety have generated additional dialogue.
There isn’t any proof that Weiss made any editorial choices based mostly on company or political pressures. Since she turned CBS Information editor-in-chief in October, her tenure has been carefully scrutinized given her opinion background, notably for her pro-Israel and anti-woke views.
Alfonsi was additionally the correspondent behind a controversial “60 Minutes” section in 2021 that alleged a pay-for-play scheme between Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Publix that was harshly criticized by Democrats and Republicans within the state.
One factor is evident although: If Weiss did hope to generate much less consideration for the story by selecting to delay it, she was sorely mistaken. The section, which could be seen right here, has gotten infinitely extra scrutiny than it will have if it had simply aired as scheduled.
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Weiss and CBS Information didn’t instantly return Fox Information Digital‘s requests for remark.
Fox Information’ David Rutz and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
