Bari Weiss defends pulling investigative 'Inside CECOT' segment: 'Our viewers come first'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss received a lot of backlash for her '60 Minutes' segment after a report about Venezuelan deportees from El Salvador was pulled at the last minute. 

Weiss also claimed that CNN had reached out to the White House for comment on the story, but didn’t hear back.

However, on Monday, December 22, she addressed her decision as Editor-in-Chief, and said that the story was “not ready,” according to The Wall Street Journal. 

Bari Weiss says 'our viewers come first'

On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reviewed a network-wide editorial call, during which Bari Weiss explained why she pulled the deportees story from ‘60 Minutes’.

She told staffers during the call that she held the story because she felt it wasn’t ready, adding that it had already been reported by other reputable publications such as the New York Times.

She added that if they wanted to run a story on the same subject, two months late, “we simply need to do more.”

Sharyn Alfonsi, a CBS correspondent, criticized Weiss’ decision and called it “political.”

Reacting to the same, Weiss said that to her, "our viewers come first, not a listing schedule." She added that it was her “North Star” as it should be everyone else’s.

Weiss also stated that the “only newsroom” she was interested in running was one where correspondents could have “contentious disagreements” about the “thorniest editorial matters” with respect and with the “best intent of our colleagues.”

Sharyn Alfonsi blasts Bari Weiss over axed segment

According to an internal memo shared by The Wall Street Journal, Sharyn Alfonsi said that she had only learned about Weiss spiking her story, 'Inside CECOT', the day before it was set to air.  

Alfonsi also stated that she had asked to speak to Weiss about the same, but the CBS Editor-in-Chief could not “afford” her that courtesy. 

“In my view, pulling it now after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision. It is a political one,” she added. 

Alfonsi also said that the story was factual and had been “screened” five times and cleared by CBS attorneys and “Standards and Practices.”