CBS News boss Bari Weiss defends firing Scott Pelley at "60 Minutes," saying he broke the newsroom's "trust" and "that's the path he chose."
"I'm only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect. We cannot do our work without it. That foundation was broken and despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren't able to do so, and so we had to part ways. We did not want that to happen, but that's the path that he chose. That unfortunate outcome does not discount from the amazing contributions and work that Scott Pelley has done for CBS and for '60 Minutes' over the course of his career. His stories just from this past season on '60 Minutes'... are unforgettable stories. And those are the kind of stories that have always, always typified '60 Minutes.' The kind of stories that Nick Bilton is going to put on the air come September in season 59 with the amazing team that's still there and hopefully from some new people that are going to be joining us."
https://t.co/UNDmIyCPBt
New statement from Scott Pelley:
โLast month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.
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For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. Iโve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc. In a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all.
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At 60 Minutes, we have fought harder than anyone knows to save the program that became an American icon. We owed that to our millions of viewers. I am deeply moved by the thousands of wishes we have received to โkeep up the good fight.โ Most of the men and women of CBS News are still in that fight. But now the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.โ
Scott Pelley atood on business, and told those clowns at CBS the truth. He helped make 60 Minutes the respected, high quality show it was before Bari Weiss showed up.
She's RUINED the show.
She's ruined the station.
FUCK @CBS.
I stand with Scott Pelley. ๐๐ช๐ฝ
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So voters have a real chance to keep trump enablers out of the general election altogether.
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Please and thank you! ๐๐ช
Players taking significant pay cuts just to play for the #49ers
Remember that bogus report claiming players didnโt want to sign in SF because of the Substation? ๐คฃ
Yeahโฆ that narrative aged terribly.
Players WANT to be in San Francisco.
Elite culture. Championship mindset. ๐ฅ