Cecilia Vega, one of the “60 Minutes” correspondents ousted in Thursday’s reorganization of CBS News Magazine, said she is worried about the show’s future and the direction it will take under the management put in place by parent company Paramount Skydance.
“I have the utmost respect and admiration for my colleagues at 60 Minutes and the stories that air every Sunday, but I am deeply fearful for what will happen next and the future of this legendary broadcast,” Vega said in a statement. “Over the past few months, my production team and I have experienced attempts to inject political bias into our stories. Our reporting teams have been holding back from submitting story pitches on important news topics for fear of internal repercussions. Call it what you will: censorship, both imposed and self-imposed. This is dangerous to our show, and dangerous to our democracy.”
CBS News announced Thursday that it has hired Nick Bilton, a former technology journalist and investigative reporter who has worked at the New York Times and Vanity Fair, and who has recently worked on documentaries. Bilton told Variety in an interview Thursday that he is eager to bring “60 Minutes” journalism in front of a digital audience and find ways to make the show more relevant outside of traditional Sunday evening TV appearances.
A CBS News spokesperson declined to comment on the journalist’s allegations.
Vega joined “60 Minutes” from ABC News in 2023 as part of former executive producer Bill Owens’ careful expansion of the show’s hub of dedicated correspondents.
In an interview at the time, Owens said he was impressed by Vega’s extensive reporting experience and time spent in print journalism. “When her opportunity came, I thought she was the most valuable free agent on the market. I couldn’t pass it up,” he told Variety. “We have to think about the future of the show. She will be part of the future success of 60 Minutes.”
Vega said he was “fired” and that his current contract with “60 Minutes” does not expire until March 2027. CBS News on Thursday also fired colleague Sharin Alfonsi, along with two of the show’s top executives, Tanya Simon and Dragan Mihailovic.
She also suggested that she may have lost her job because she defied instructions from CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and his team. CBS News officials said Weiss has strong opinions about Israel and other topics that are most important in the current and recent news cycle.
“I toed the line and refused to take in suggestions that offended my conscience. This is a word I borrowed from colleagues who have similarly fought to keep problematic editorial suggestions away from the facts. I have learned from many conversations with colleagues that many production teams and correspondents working on programs today regularly make editorial decisions. I know I have to fight to maintain my independence. I’m not the only 60 Minutes correspondent who has asked myself, ‘What are my personal red lines? How far can I push back before I pay the price?’
“I also leave with an honor that no one can take away from me: I was the first Latinx correspondent to appear on ’60 Minutes.'” Today, I lost a great job. But I still maintain my integrity. ”
