Bari Weiss, the transphobic lesbian editor-in-chief of CBS News, was notably absent last night at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards in Manhattan, where a scholarship recipient told the audience that Weiss’ leadership at the news network “stains the legacy” of one of its most famous journalists. The day after, Weiss tore apart the veteran reporters behind the network’s leading news magazine 60 Minutes.
During the event, Santiago Campos received the Mike Wallace scholarship, an annual $10,000 award given to an accomplished TV journalism student which honors the legendary CBS 60 Minutes journalist. In his acceptance speech, Campos condemned recent editorial changes made at CBS News under Weiss’ leadership, though he didn’t mention her by name.
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“While I want to thank CBS news for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship,” Campos said, as audience members began cheering and applauding.
“As corporate elites take hold over the very pipes through which our information flows, journalism that serves people becomes increasingly harder to come by, yet ever more crucial. And what the people want is the truth,” he continued.
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“So at any time, if you hesitate to utter the word ‘genocide’ or remain silent in the face of blatant lies, remember to ask yourself, ‘Who is this for?’ I hope you choose us,” he concluded.
After Campos’ speech, award-presenter and longtime CBS News reporter Mike Pelley reportedly remarked, “I know that Mike Wallace is looking down at you with pride at this very moment.”
Weiss wasn’t around to hear Campos’ criticisms, which was notable seeing as 60 Minutes, the network’s oldest and most-watched TV news magazine, had been nominated for 10 awards (and won three). Network leaders often attend the ceremony in support for their journalists’ work.
The day after Campos’ speech, Weiss removed many of 60 Minutes‘ longtime journalists in what The New York Post called a “bloodbath.” She removed executive producer Tanya Simon, senior executive producer Draggan Mihailovich, correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, and replaced Tanya Simon, a 25-year veteran of the show, with Nick Bilton, a tech journalist who (like Weiss) has never worked in TV news.
Weiss and Alfonsi clashed last December when Weiss pulled a 13-minute segment on deportations to El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism, an El Salvador prison infamous for its torture and human rights abuses. Just hours before it was set to air, Weiss said the piece was “not ready” and lacked an on-record response from the Trump administration. Alfonsi argued that the story was heavily vetted and that the administration’s silence effectively allowed the president to kill the story. The piece eventually aired in January
Alfonsi called her dismissal “a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting,” adding, “It sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom.”
Under Weiss’ leadership, the viewership of both CBS Evening News and CBS Mornings have fallen behind rival shows at the ABC and NBC News networks.
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