The Sunday evening CBS program 60 Minutes had originally planned to air a segment last night about Venezuelan men who were in the U.S. illegally who, according to the story, were deported to a prison in El Salvador.
A correspondent involved in putting the story together is being quoted as saying Bari Weiss and the leadership at CBS News made a "political decision":
BREAKING
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) December 22, 2025
Sharyn Alfonsi, a correspondent for 60 Minutes, sent an internal email to colleagues stating that CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss “spiked our story” about the Trump administration and the transfer of deportees to a prison in El Salvador.
In the email — which was… pic.twitter.com/y8pT8Vi9fX
Here's the full post:
Sharyn Alfonsi, a correspondent for 60 Minutes, sent an internal email to colleagues stating that CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss “spiked our story” about the Trump administration and the transfer of deportees to a prison in El Salvador.
In the email — which was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal — Alfonsi compares the decision to spike the story to the Jeffrey Wigand scandal.
Jeffrey Wigand was a tobacco industry whistleblower whose interview was initially withheld by CBS in the 1990s over legal concerns, a decision that severely damaged the network’s credibility and became one of the most infamous episodes in broadcast journalism.
Alfonsi writes that Weiss declined to speak with her about the decision.
She also says the move was political rather than editorial.
“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi wrote. “It is factually correct.”
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Yeah, we've heard the "but it was factually correct" defense before.
It can be both factually correct and lack contextual framing, thus misrepresenting the actual events being reported.
— Rich Weinstein (@phillyrich1) December 22, 2025
But the correspondent's comments about her story being delayed served the purpose, and of course Democrats like Elizabeth Warren are all over it:
Paramount-owned CBS abruptly canceled a story exposing the Trump administration's brutal deportations.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) December 22, 2025
The reporter called it a "political decision."
Paramount needs Trump’s backing to buy Warner Bros. — including CNN.
Is that just a coincidence?
This looks like corruption.
The reporter in question saying CBS News leadership's decision to delay the segment (possibly in order to ::gulp:: make sure it includes both sides of the story) was a "political decision" caught the attention of Guy Benson, who added the following:
The journo who is trying to embarrass her boss and posture as some sort of whistleblower here is a woman named Sharyn Alfonsi. If that name rings a bell, maybe it’s because of this agenda-driven, biased, shoddy work: https://t.co/HCysPjviFd https://t.co/r5UdJ6C0NO
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) December 22, 2025
Yeah, speaking of making "political decisions," Benson's story from 2021 flashes back to a 60 Minutes hit job on Gov. Ron DeSantis involving this same correspondent.
THIS is exactly why I had a twinge of hope for CBS - and maybe most of mainstream media
— AtlantaStu (@AtlantaStu) December 22, 2025
Bari insists on reporting the news - ALL sides of the news vs just the liberal side
So called "journalists" are upset because it appears that Weiss wants to make sure the story includes ::checks notes:: both sides of the story. The "political decisions" usually end up coming from Dem propagandists disguised as "journalists."
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