A fired 60 Minutes correspondent has raised fresh concerns about CBS News under the leadership of editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who has been dogged by controversy since assuming the role last year, according to a new report.
Cecilia Vega, who was dismissed by Weiss in May, alleged that network management pushed to include claims in coverage that could not be verified, according to Status, which obtained audio of an on-stage interview Vega participated in on Thursday in New Orleans.
During the interview — held at a conference for Hispanic journalists — Vega said she was “scared to be talking” about her experience working with Weiss, but noted that “there is a lot at stake.”
Weiss, the founder of the anti-woke media outlet The Free Press, was appointed to her post last October after Paramount, the network’s parent company, was acquired by billionaire David Ellison. Since then, critics have accused her of steering coverage to favor the Trump administration and Israel. She has reportedly responded that she is not “a mouthpiece for anybody” and that her goal is to restore trust in journalism.
Speaking on stage in Louisiana on Thursday, Vega described several instances in which she said CBS News leadership sought to influence her reporting. When reached by The Independent, a network official disputed those examples, saying none were used in any published material.
While discussing Renee Good and Alex Pretti — the two U.S. citizens killed by federal immigration agents in Minnesota in January — Vega said she had been pushed to include footage of protesters attacking individuals they believed were undercover ICE agents. In Vega’s telling, her team looked for instances of this happening, but did not find any “credible examples,” according to Mediaite.
She also alleged that producers were pressed to include a scene where Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told local police to confront federal agents, with the Minneapolis police chief responding by rolling his eyes.
“That never happened,” Vega said, according to Mediate. “We could not find any instance of the mayor saying something like that.”
She did not explicitly name Weiss, but cited changes that have taken place under the media company’s “new administration,” claiming that things “started to change when new people started showing up in the screenings and giving their feedback on pieces,” according to Mediaite.
Elsewhere in the interview, Vega claimed she was asked to begin a segment on the ongoing Iran war with the line: “Who is winning the war? Iran is totally outgunned by the United States and Israel.” She described this as an “administration talking point.”
Responding to the claim, a CBS News official dismissed the suggestion that the network is promoting the administration, pointing to a recent segment highlighting setbacks in the Iran war.
In addition to Vega, several other 60 Minutes correspondents have departed or been dismissed since Weiss was appointed editor-in-chief.
In May, Sharon Alfonsi was fired following a public clash with Weiss over the news chief’s controversial decision to pull a segment on a brutal Latin American prison. That same month, Anderson Cooper bid farewell to the program, emphasizing the importance of editorial “independence” in his final address.
In June, veteran correspondent Scott Pelley was fired after reportedly accusing Weiss of “murdering” the flagship news program.
Pelley received a termination letter from 60 Minutes’ new executive producer, Nick Bilton, who also reportedly sent him a note accusing him of hijacking an editorial meeting and displaying “remarkable incivility and contempt.”
After Pelley’s termination, a CBS News spokesperson reached by The Wall Street Journal denied that management had made decisions for political reasons.
Weiss herself told the outlet: “What’s being called ‘editorial interference’ is in reality the job description of an editor in chief.”
A CBS News official also pointed The Independent to recent commentary from media reporters and critics, including a June X post from Brian Stelter, CNN’s chief media analyst.
“CBS News has not gone MAGA, despite a flood of progressive claims to that effect,” Stelter wrote. “I suspect that the people who act like Trump owns CBS now don’t watch much CBS. Of course, it doesn’t help that some conservative activists talk like CBS is ‘theirs’ now. I doubt they’re watching, either.”
