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If you thought “60 Minutes” was a mess, that was a piece of cake compared to what happened yesterday.
Bari Weiss has been under fire from reporters and commentators since becoming CBS’s editor-in-chief, many of them from liberals and left-leaning readers who are convinced he’s a crazy conservative. That’s not true, and I’ve defended him a lot, but he made rookie mistakes like someone who’s never worked in television.
So as headlines spread about President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw a $1.8 billion “anti-gun” fund — it comes as many Republicans have joined Democrats in publicly criticizing the fund intended for the Jan. 6 – Weiss faces treason.
He first fired “60 Minutes” reporters Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi (whose story in a Salvadoran prison he was holding, but he did well after Trump officials didn’t show up), and executive producer Tanya Simon.
SCOTT PELLEY FIRES TEAM WITH NEW ’60 MINUTES’ HOST, ACCUSES BARRY WEISS OF ‘MILDER’ QUESTION
Bari Weiss has been under fire from reporters and commentators since becoming CBS’s editor-in-chief. (Michele Crowe/CBS News via Getty Images)
“CBS Evening News” ratings have dropped under new anchor Tony Dokoupil, though it’s not all his fault — CBS failed to get him a visa for Trump’s trip to Beijing, and he had to report from Taiwan.
But “60 Minutes” has always been different, the crown jewel of the Tiffany network ever. It operates in a separate building, across Manhattan’s 10th Avenue. Its ratings were excellent, and the show made money, over $200 million in network advertising.
After 58 years on the air, it averaged an impressive 9.1 million viewers, a 9% jump from last season, and has a significant digital presence.
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But that’s why I think Weiss, who I interviewed, made a huge mistake by hiring tech journalist Nick Bilton to run the magazine.
He may be a great guy, but he, too, has never worked in the broadcasting business. It’s almost like that’s a throwback to the Weiss era.
The Big Three Outlets have seen repeated upheavals since Weiss’ takeover. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Bilton has worked for the New York Times and Vanity Fair. He met Weiss while they were working on some recording projects together.
“If you take an insider and bring him into the company, nothing changes,” Bilton told the Times. “I’m not saying we’re going to change the system completely and drastically.”
“If you don’t disrupt, you will be disrupted,” he said, according to Variety. “There is nothing I like more than choosing to fight.”
But yesterday the leading member of the “60” group, Scott Pelley, fought hard, his voice breaking at times.
During a meeting of angry employees, Pelley, the former evening news anchor, said of Weiss: “He’s killing ’60 Minutes.’ He doesn’t like this place. He was brought in to kill it, and he was doing just that.”
That’s according to a taped report obtained by the Times.
Pelley had just begun: “He’s unqualified for his job; he’s underqualified for the job. The changes he’s made to the ‘Evening News’ have been a disaster, so why should we expect any of this to get better?”
“He’s killing ’60 Minutes.’ He doesn’t like this place. He was brought in to kill it, and that’s what he was doing,” reporter Scott Pelley said of Weiss. (David M. Russell/CBS via Getty Images)
Bilton replied “I’ll show you…I’ll meet everyone. I’m so excited to meet everyone, including you.”
Pelley pressed the new program manager on why he accepted the job, “knowing you would never be accepted here.”
That shot back: “I’ve been a reporter for 25 years, Scott. I’ve sat across from incredibly powerful people like you, and none of it scares me.”
Weiss was apparently asked not to participate in the meeting.
See, Bilton might have some good ideas. In the past, the network created “60 Minutes II,” which ran for seven seasons but was folded after Dan Rather’s segment on George W. Bush and the National Guard that turned out to be based on fake documents, and both CBS and the anchor apologized.
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Here is the problem. Pelley and Lesley Stahl are the show’s featured artists.
If Weiss fires Pelley for his comments, it will look like he can’t be criticized and is taking revenge on free speech. The media will label it as intolerance for him.
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If he keeps Pelley, he will have to accept working with someone who has been openly critical of him and his new manager on the show.
The battle within CBS News over the most successful franchise is far from over.
