Bari Weiss shakes up '60 Minutes' with a new executive producer; Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi exit

For 58 years, “60 Minutes” has been the untouchable crown jewel of American tv quality — a programme that outlasted the emergence of cable, the illness of web ratings and each displacement successful the media scenery with its absorption connected serious, autarkic journalism.

On Thursday, CBS News Editor successful Chief Bari Weiss shattered its solid case.

In the astir sweeping changes successful the newsmagazine’s astir six-decade history, Weiss ousted the program’s enforcement producer, Tanya Simon, and replaced her with Nick Bilton, 49, a seasoned tech writer and documentary filmmaker who worked for 13 years astatine the New York Times but who has nary acquisition moving a TV quality operation.

Weiss besides fired “60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, who clashed with her brag implicit a conception connected President Trump’s migration policies, and Cecilia Vega, who near ABC News to articulation the programme successful 2023.

Bilton volition beryllium the archetypal enforcement shaper successful the 58-year past of “60 Minutes” to travel from extracurricular the tightly knit organization. The programme has had lone 4 leaders: Don Hewitt, Jeff Fager, Bill Owens and Simon, each of whom came up done the ranks of CBS News.

The moves are the astir melodramatic objection yet of Weiss’ arguable efforts to remake a venerable instauration agelong defined by intransigence and tradition. She arrived astatine CBS News successful October with nary tv experience, installed by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison aft helium acquired her integer quality outlet, the Free Press, with a mandate to shingle up the network.

Disney Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger, left, and Vanity Fair peculiar analogous Nick Bilton talk onstage during the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit astatine Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts successful 2017.

(Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images)

Weiss’ willingness to bust up the furnishings arsenic she tries to get CBS News to accommodate to a integer aboriginal has besides travel with scrutiny and accounts of her missteps that she admits were owed to inexperience. The spotlight connected her efforts volition lone intensify with the upheaval she’s bringing to the astir watched quality programme connected tv for decades.

Casting a shadiness implicit the changes are the governmental machinations of Ellison, who has built a affable narration with the Trump White House arsenic helium seeks regulatory support of Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Ellison’s pronouncements that CBS News needs to determination much to the governmental halfway has led to the cognition that the web is trying to placate Trump with much affirmative quality coverage, adjacent arsenic “60 Minutes” has remained pugnacious with its White House reporting.

“60 Minutes” has been nether unit since October 2024, erstwhile Trump filed a $20-billion suit against CBS implicit an interrogation conducted with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. That suit was settled to wide the regulatory way for Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount.

Paramount besides has faced blowback implicit the determination by CBS to cancel its Trump-bashing late-night big Stephen Colbert up of the FCC support of its merger with Skydance Media.

Gags astir CBS News moving to the governmental close person turned up astatine the Oscars and the Golden Globe Award telecasts.

“If there’s immoderate cognition that CBS loses quality to study the quality without fearfulness oregon favor, oregon is being compromised by firm overlords oregon different agendas, that’s going to beryllium precise harmful for the institution,” said Andrew Heyward, a media advisor and erstwhile president of CBS News. “It’s penetrated into the nationalist arena, truthful that regular radical are present bringing it up.”

From a concern standpoint, “60 Minutes” is simply a funny people for a revamp. The programme is 1 of the astir profitable hours connected the CBS prime-time docket portion retaining its presumption arsenic television’s astir prestigious journalism operation.

While the ratings for “60 Minutes” get a boost from a lead-in from high-rated late-afternoon NFL games, it remains 1 of the fewer web shows that viewers marque an assignment to watch. The program’s advertisement revenue, which probe steadfast iSpot pegged astatine $67.5 cardinal successful 2025, has remained dependable successful caller years adjacent arsenic accepted TV continues to suffer crushed to streaming.

But Weiss believes the “60 Minutes” marque sanction has to bash much than conscionable gully a large assemblage connected Sunday night, a constituent she stressed successful her enactment to unit that was obtained by The Times.

“‘60 Minutes’ has shaped nationalist conversations, exposed abuses of power, and acceptable the modular for tv reporting,” Weiss wrote. “Our work is to sphere that bequest and captious ngo by gathering a amusement that thrives successful the 21st century. That requires a caller approach: expanding ’60 Minutes’ beyond a one-hour tv broadcast, deepening its relation crossed CBS News.”

Bilton told The Times successful an interrogation that helium has a mandate to make podcasts and different “60 Minutes” projects that scope consumers extracurricular of the accepted TV audience. Though helium hasn’t held a ceremonial relation successful a TV quality organization, helium said helium brings applicable news-gathering acquisition to his position.

“I’ve written paper articles, and columns, and mag features, and I person made tv shows, and written movie scripts and made documentaries,” Bilton said. “And what we bash astatine ’60 Minutes’ is we archer stories, and I person spent my full vocation studying however to bash that successful the champion mode possible, and arsenic an investigative journalist.”


What Weiss and Bilton mightiness larn is that the DNA of “60 Minutes” is not easy transferable. Owens, who preceded Simon arsenic enforcement producer, tried to bring a “60 Minutes” storytelling benignant to the “CBS Evening News” erstwhile it was revamped successful aboriginal 2024.

Viewers did not flock to Owens’ vision, and “CBS Evening News” was blown up again successful January. (The relaunch of the programme with Weiss’s anchor prime of Tony Dokoupil was marred by aboriginal missteps and has failed to amended its ratings.)

“60 Minutes” did past the snafu that occurred with the conception that doomed Alfonsi. Her conception “Inside CECOT,” which elaborate the Trump administration’s attraction of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants who were deported to an El Salvador situation known for its harsh conditions, was scheduled to tally Dec. 21 but was pulled the time earlier airing by Weiss, who believed it needed much reporting, including a nonstop effect from the administration, which did not participate.

Alfonsi protested the determination by Weiss, calling it politically motivated successful an email she sent to colleagues.

The communicative yet ran connected Jan. 18 without immoderate important changes to its code oregon reporting. Weiss acknowledged internally that pulling the conception aft it had already been promoted was a mistake.

Tanya Simon is being replaced arsenic enforcement shaper of “60 Minutes.”

(Michele Crowe / CBS News)

But Alfonsi said publically that she afloat expected to beryllium fto spell from the program. Her declaration ended with the precocious concluded TV season.

Simon’s departure came arsenic much of a daze to the organization.

Weiss is said to person developed a coagulated narration with Simon, whose precocious father, Bob Simon, was a highly respected analogous for the program. But the transportation seemingly deteriorated aft Weiss was amazed by Anderson Cooper’s sign-off from the program, ending his astir 20-year tally arsenic a correspondent.

Cooper, who is besides a full-time anchor astatine CNN, turned down a caller “60 Minutes” woody from Weiss. During his last appearance, helium expressed fears astir the editorial independency of the program.

“‘60 Minutes’ has ever been much than conscionable a broadcast: it is an instauration built connected independence, grit, and rigorous hunt for the truth,” Simon wrote successful a enactment to her staff. “That is enactment we did unneurotic — and with ratings up 9% implicit past twelvemonth nary less. You should each beryllium proud.”