What did CBS News executives get their staff for Christmas? The memo further cements a controversial decision that has thrown Paramount Skydance’s news department into turmoil and sparked intense criticism.
In a memo to staff hours before Christmas Eve, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, President Tom Cybrowski and new senior editors Charles Forell and Adam Rubenstein argued that the measure to delay 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi was enacted “to ensure comprehensiveness and fairness.” The signature on the memo marks what is believed to be the first implicit appearance of CBS News’ new editorial “masthead,” which Mr. Weiss hopes will become more entrenched in the company’s reporting process, according to people familiar with the matter.
“Today, the majority of Americans say they don’t trust the news media, and it’s not because they’re crazy,” the memo said. “To win back their trust, we have to work hard. Sometimes that means working harder. Sometimes it means telling unexpected stories. Sometimes it means training our attention to topics that have been overlooked or misunderstood. And sometimes it means holding onto stories on important subjects to make sure it’s inclusive and fair.”
CBS News revealed over the weekend that a “60 Minutes” segment that featured correspondent Sharin Alfonsi’s on-screen account of a Venezuelan man who was deported by the United States to a prison in El Salvador had been taken off the air hours before Sunday’s broadcast. The decision was made by Weiss, who insisted that Trump officials appear on the report and comment on camera, despite Alfonsi’s team’s good faith efforts to ensure a response before submitting the report for legal review, as revealed in an email Alfonsi sent to colleagues. “The public will correctly perceive this as corporate censorship,” Alfonsi said in the memo.
Since arriving in October, Weiss has claimed, without evidence, that mainstream media has lost the trust of Americans. A Gallup poll found that only 28% of Americans have “a lot” or “a lot” of trust in newspapers, television, and radio to report the news accurately and fairly. This number is down from 31% in 2025 and 40% five years ago.
Still, a Pew Research Center poll released in September showed that CBS News has the support of 51% of American adults who have at least some trust in the information they get from national news outlets. CBS ranked on par with CNN and PBS, and only a few percentage points behind ABC News and NBC News.
The new memo says recent decisions “may seem radical.” “Editorial decisions like this can cause a firestorm, especially on a slow news week. And the standards of fairness we uphold, especially when it comes to controversial subjects, will no doubt be controversial to those who are used to doing things unilaterally. But we need it to fulfill our mission.”
“60 Minutes” Imbroglio caught CBS News and its parent company at a very inopportune moment. The news department is days away from selecting Tony Dokoupil as the new anchor of CBS Evening News, and it appears to be doing so without the normally required weeks of pre-launch promotion. Instead, Dokoupil will go on a tour around the United States on the first day of the show, visiting many cities and towns. Additionally, Paramount is in a fierce battle with Netflix over its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, and a series of gaffes under Weiss have clouded Paramount CEO David Ellison’s ability to run the company.
Many staffers were stunned by Weiss’ decision, noting that it came after a lengthy review process and after CBS News had already promoted the “60 Minutes” segment to the public. In fact, Canadian media broadcasting “60 Minutes” made Alfonsi’s report available digitally, so many people were able to see it for themselves. When a new version of an article is published in a news magazine, viewers can see how it was changed under Weiss’s supervision. Mr. Alfonsi had already made an effort to seek comment from Trump administration officials and included a snippet of a video of White House press secretary Caroline Levitt presenting the administration’s position on the issue, according to a person familiar with the report.
Weiss, the digital provocateur behind the opinion site The Free Press, which was acquired by Paramount Skydance earlier this year, has made a series of unforced errors since joining CBS News. The gaffes are grilling the news business, which runs weekday evening and morning news programs that have long lagged behind rivals NBC and ABC, while supporting top series such as “60 Minutes” and “Sunday Morning.”
Since taking the job, Weiss has asked CBS News employees to explain their job descriptions, prompting backlash from unions. Conservative news reporters and Trump administration officials were featured in various segments of broadcast and online programs. Attempted to hire a well-known anchor by enticing him to leave his current contract with a competing company. And it launched a new series of town halls and debates, with sessions moderated by conservative activist Erica Kirk, who had failed to gain support from mainstream advertisers. Bank of America has signed on to sponsor an upcoming edition of the series, currently titled “Thing That Matter.”
The new memo continues to promote Weiss’ position that news consumers have low trust in mainstream media, a dogma the executive has repeatedly asserted publicly without evidence. Still, a Pew Research Center poll released in September showed that CBS News has the support of 51% of American adults who have at least some trust in the information they get from national news outlets. CBS ranked on par with CNN and PBS, and only a few percentage points behind ABC News and NBC News.
