Veteran journalist and former 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi faced a new wave of public embarrassment just before CBS News abruptly ended her tenure on Thursday morning. Her departure was marked by a lack of transparency from the network, as neither Alfonsi nor her team were informed that her contract would not be renewed, according to insider sources who spoke with Status.
The deadline for contract renewal passed quietly on Saturday, leaving Alfonsi and her team in the lurch. In an interview with The New York Times, Alfonsi addressed the situation, stating, “I think it was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize accurate reporting.” Her comments reflected her discontent with CBS management, stemming from a December incident where one of her segments was pulled at the last minute.
The segment in question was poised to tackle the sensitive issue of deportations of suspected illegal immigrants in the U.S. Alfonsi had strongly criticized the network’s decision in an internal email, accusing her superiors of engaging in political censorship. This internal conflict seems to have played a significant role in her eventual dismissal.
Following the publication of the Times report, which detailed the intricacies of her departure, CBS formally announced Alfonsi’s firing. The timing of the announcement, coming just hours after the story broke, underscored the contentious nature of her exit and the broader implications for journalistic freedom within major news organizations.
The story was set to speak on where the US has deported suspected illegal immigrants. Alfonsi tore into the decision in an internal email at the time, accusing her bosses of political censorship.
CBS formally fired Alfonsi on Thursday morning, hours after the Times report revealed the circumstances surrounding her exit to the public.
Aflonsi told the paper how her agent’s inquiries to CBS over the past several weeks about her future had been ‘met with absolute silence.’
Outgoing 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi suffered a fresh blow following her ouster from the program over the weekend, which was revealed to the public in the form of a New York Times story on Wednesday
She added in a subsequent statement: ‘The message could not be clearer: my time at 60 Minutes is apparently over.’
‘In the coming days, network leadership may attempt to hide behind corporate euphemisms like “modernization” and “restructuring” to explain away my departure. Don’t be misled,’ Alfonsi wrote.
‘This was not a routine corporate transition; it was a deliberate choice.’
CBS went on to announce a new executive producer for the show, former New York Times tech columnist Nick Bilton.
Alfonsi, meanwhile, praised ‘fearless, independent reporting’ seen from 60 Minutes in the past.
‘Today, CBS management is abandoning that mission, choosing access journalism over accountability and protecting power rather than scrutinizing it,’ she wrote in her statement Wednesday.
‘The wall between editorial independence and corporate interest at CBS is being methodically torn down.
‘Journalists willing to challenge authority are being pushed aside in favor of those who will not.’
Alfonsi previously framed CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss’s decision not to air the piece about Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) as ‘political’,internal emails obtained by the Los Angeles Times back in December showed.
CBS brass like editor Bari Weiss saw internal emails sent out by Alfonsi to the 60 Minutes team in December as ‘insubordinate’
Alfonsi, a longtime presence at 60 Minutes, reported the piece bout Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT). She slammed Weiss’s decision to spike the story as ‘political’
She told her team at the time: ‘If the standard for airing a story becomes “the government must agree to be interviewed,” then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast.’
Weiss had claimed that Alfonsi did not get enough administration officials on the record for the ‘important piece.’
CBS executives saw the drafting of the internal memo as ‘insubordinate’, several C-suiters at the Eye Network told the Times. The Wednesday report broke the news on Alfonsi’s 60 Minutes exit.
‘If this continues, the result will be a broadcast that looks like 60 Minutes but lacks the courage and character to produce journalism that matters,’ Alfonsi warned, ultimately urging her colleagues to ‘hold the line.’
Fellow 60 Minutes long-timer Anderson Cooper recently left the program after 20 years as well, also because of Weiss, Status reported.
Fellow 60 Minutes vet Lesley Stahl is also mulling an exit after being passed over for a recent sit-down with Benjamin Netanyahu last month, according to Status. The meet was arranged by Weiss – an outspoken Israel supporter.
Stahl, Cooper, and Alfonsi were all part of a group of correspondents who demanded that CBS name the show’s next executive producer after longtime lead Bill Owens’s exit in April of last year.
Fellow 60 Minutes long-timer Anderson Cooper recently left the program after 20 years as a correspondent due to reported frustrations with Weiss, who was appointed by Paramount in October
Fellow 60 Minutes vet Lesley Stahl is also reportedly reassessing her future at CBS News altogether, after being passed over for the show’s recent sit-down with Benjamin Netanyahu – a sit down arranged by Weiss personally
Longtime 60 Minutes producer Tanya Simon temporarily received the top job after heavy backing from the 60 Minutes team, until her ouster Thursday.
Also caught up in the day’s exits was 60 Minutes’ executive editor, Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondent Cecilia Vega, Variety reported.
The Daily Mail approached CBS and Paramount for comment.
Alfonsi joined CBS in 2011 to work for 60 Minutes Sports. She her TV debut on 60 Minutes in 2015.
The network has since been subject to an overhaul from Weiss, who was appointed by Paramount CEO David Ellison in October.
