Inside the CBS mutiny against Bari Weiss and David Ellison

{"text":[[{"start":12.45,"text":"Scott Pelley walked into a meeting with CBS executives on Tuesday evening with his future at one of America’s most venerated news programmes hanging in the balance."}],[{"start":23.4,"text":"By nightfall, the veteran 60 Minutes correspondent had been fired, triggering a public war of words that has engulfed CBS News and thrust David Ellison’s network into crisis."}],[{"start":35.25,"text":"The rupture culminated months of escalating tensions inside CBS News. Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss’s attempt to transform the century-old organisation has ignited allegations of political interference and a bitter struggle over the future of the influential US news brand among some of the network’s most prominent journalists. "}],[{"start":55.95,"text":"The fallout now extends beyond CBS. As Ellison prepares to bring CBS and CNN under his grip through an $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, executives and advisers are increasingly open to the prospect of CNN chief Mark Thompson remaining in a senior role after the merger closes. Some insiders view Thompson, the British former BBC boss, as a potential stabilising force, according to people familiar with the discussions."}],[{"start":84.1,"text":"What began as an effort to modernise CBS News has spiralled into one of the most dramatic newsroom crises in recent US media history."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":92.69999999999999,"text":"In the space of a week, three of 60 Minutes’ seven correspondents have departed the programme. Pelley left accusing CBS management of attempting to inject “falsehoods and bias” into his reporting and allowing politicians to influence editorial decisions. The network strongly denies the allegations."}],[{"start":111.44999999999999,"text":"Several senior media executives described the situation as unprecedented, with one saying he had “never seen something blow up like this” in decades in the news business."}],[{"start":121.49999999999999,"text":"Behind the scenes, David Ellison — the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison who US President Donald Trump has called a friend — has been closely involved in important decisions, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring how a newsroom battle has become a defining test for the 43-year-old chief executive. "}],[{"start":140.14999999999998,"text":"The dispute has become a spectacle, with leaks and competing accounts of Pelley’s dismissal ricocheting across rival news outlets and social media. Pelley has accused CBS executives of misleading staff about the circumstances of his firing, while people close to Weiss have portrayed the veteran correspondent as unwilling to accept change."}],[{"start":161.2,"text":"The increasingly public battle has transformed an internal newsroom dispute into a broader argument about politics, ownership and journalism in Trump’s America."}],[{"start":171.54999999999998,"text":"The CBS crisis is unfolding during one of the most politically charged periods in US media history. On Wednesday, Trump renewed his attacks on CNN. He said perhaps the new owners could “straighten it out”, before adding: “I doubt it. It’s hard to straighten garbage out.”"}],[{"start":188.1,"text":"—"}],[{"start":189.45,"text":"The conflict erupted last week when Weiss installed Nick Bilton, a technology journalist and documentary maker, as executive producer of 60 Minutes and fired two correspondents as part of a sweeping overhaul. During Bilton’s first meeting with staff on Monday, Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” 60 Minutes. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":210.14999999999998,"text":"CBS executives met Pelley the following day in an effort to find a path forward, according to a person familiar with the matter. At the start of the meeting, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski told Pelley that management wanted to discuss how the two sides could “reach a point of civility”, the person said. "}],[{"start":227.64999999999998,"text":"Hours later, Bilton emailed Pelley that he had been “fired with cause, effective immediately”, accusing him of “remarkable incivility and contempt”."}],[{"start":236.7,"text":"Ellison met Bilton when he was hired, advised Weiss on how to approach Tuesday’s meeting with Pelley and signed off on Pelley’s dismissal, according to people familiar with the matter. "}],[{"start":246.5,"text":"People familiar with Ellison and Weiss’s relationship say he has largely deferred to her judgment on the direction of CBS News. This has left the former New York Times opinion writer and “anti-cancel culture” crusader with broad authority to execute the transformation she was hired to deliver."}],[{"start":265.85,"text":"Ellison recruited Weiss as part of his plan to reshape CBS News after he acquired Paramount last year. "}],[{"start":272.65000000000003,"text":"While seeking approval for that deal, Ellison wrote to the Federal Communications Commission — the US media regulator that in Trump’s second term has become increasingly aggressive — pledging to ensure a “diverse array of viewpoints” across the company’s TV programming. Ellison has stated he wanted his news organisations to serve “the 70 per cent of Americans who identify as centre-left or centre-right”. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":298.90000000000003,"text":"Since his firing, Pelley has levelled extraordinary accusations against CBS News leadership. In a statement on Wednesday, he alleged that “new management” instructed him to inject “falsehoods and bias” into a politically sensitive story, pressured him to include assertions that could not be verified and allowed politicians to influence which correspondents conducted interviews."}],[{"start":320.35,"text":"He also accused management of incompetence, claiming one of his stories was within minutes of failing to air."}],[{"start":327.05,"text":"The other two correspondents fired last week have also publicly alleged interference and political bias, as have other departed CBS staff in recent months. When top 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens left last year, he cited a loss of journalistic independence."}],[{"start":344.35,"text":"CBS denied the allegations. “There is no political interference at CBS News, not from ownership, not from Bari Weiss,” a spokesperson said. “The only ‘interference’ is the normal back and forth between editor and correspondent that happens in every newsroom.”"}],[{"start":361.15000000000003,"text":"The relationship has deteriorated so badly that the two sides disagree on the basic facts of the meeting that ended Pelley’s three-decade-plus career at CBS."}],[{"start":370.95000000000005,"text":"One senior media executive with knowledge of the situation said the conflict had become increasingly self-destructive."}],[{"start":378.95000000000005,"text":"“The toxic self-regard and simmering resentment in the place is unbelievable,” the executive said. “David Ellison has signed up to radical change at CBS but is really interested in a few key areas, such as support for Israel and then getting WBD over the line. It’s amazing why they are fighting over this.” "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":397.20000000000005,"text":"—"}],[{"start":397.50000000000006,"text":"The immediate future of 60 Minutes remains uncertain. The programme just wrapped its 58th season and does not return until September. On Friday, the remaining three correspondents — Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker — said they were staying at the programme."}],[{"start":414.8500000000001,"text":"“We want to stay and fight, try to repair and preserve our reputation,” they said in a statement. "}],[{"start":421.50000000000006,"text":"60 Minutes drew 9.1mn viewers on average this past season, up 9 per cent from a year ago — making it the most popular US news TV show. The programme is estimated to make nearly $70mn in annual advertising revenue, although its costs are considerable, with its star correspondents making salaries in the millions. "}],[{"start":442.50000000000006,"text":"And television is a melting ice cube, as audiences increasingly get their information online and through social media. "}],[{"start":450.45000000000005,"text":"Ellison’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery is also expected to reach a critical stage as he seeks regulatory approval by September, potentially bringing CNN and CBS News under common ownership. One CNN insider described Thompson as an “absentee boss” but said staff would nevertheless far prefer him to Weiss."}],[{"start":469.70000000000005,"text":"For supporters of Weiss and Ellison, the upheaval is the consequence of attempting to change an institution that had grown resistant to reform. Critics see it as evidence of political interference. "}],[{"start":481.70000000000005,"text":"Brendan Carr, the FCC chair, told the FT last month that he welcomed efforts to challenge what he described as “school-of-fish groupthink” in the US media."}],[{"start":494.20000000000005,"text":"“I don’t know whether what CBS is doing is going to be successful or not,” Carr said. “But what I love is that they’re doing something different.”"}],[{"start":503.15000000000003,"text":"On the other side of the political spectrum, Ben Rhodes, a former adviser to Barack Obama, said Pelley’s dismissal was “how oligarch-authoritarian takeover of media happens”. A coalition of media freedom organisations described the 60 Minutes firings as “a grotesque effort taken straight from an authoritarian handbook”. "}],[{"start":523.35,"text":"Another person close to the situation described the affair as simply a “dumpster fire”."}],[{"start":528.8000000000001,"text":"“It’s just a lot of unforced errors,” the person said."}],[{"start":539.8000000000001,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780709982_3616.mp3"}