Bari Weiss Overhauls CBS '60 Minutes' with Firings and New Leadership
CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has shaken up the historic newsmagazine '60 Minutes,' firing veteran correspondents and replacing its executive producer with technology journalist Nick Bilton, who has never worked in television news before.
Major Shake-Up at Iconic News Program
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss on Thursday replaced Tanya Simon, the executive producer of the network's flagship newsmagazine "60 Minutes," with a technology journalist who has never worked in television news. Nick Bilton, a documentarian and former New York Times technology columnist, will take over for Simon when the show returns for a 59th season in the fall, CBS News leaders announced.
Who Was Fired
Sharyn Alfonsi, another "60 Minutes" correspondent, told the Times this week that CBS News had not renewed her contract. CBS News has also cut ties with "60 Minutes" correspondent Cecilia Vega, who joined the show in 2023. CBS officially fired Sharyn Alfonsi, who warned a day earlier that the move was due to her protesting Weiss's pulling of her story on El Salvador's CECOT megaprison.
Bilton's Vision
In a letter to "60 Minutes" staff Thursday, Bilton introduced himself and said in part: "I'm here to lead this show, not preserve it under glass. That means honoring what works and being honest about what doesn't." The new executive producer promised to bring fresh ideas about the show's format and staffing as it adapts to modern content consumption.
Inside Perspective
"They're killing '60 Minutes.'" That's how the iconic newsmagazine's former executive producer Bill Owens, who quit last summer citing corporate interference, put it to me by phone on Thursday as news broke about the firings ordered by the widely disliked and distrusted CBS News Editor-In-Chief Bari Weiss. The changes have sparked concern among longtime staff and industry observers about the future of the storied program that debuted in 1968.