CBS News' decision to pull a "60 Minutes" segment from its latest episode that was set to highlight conditions inside the El Salvador prison where the Trump administration has deported Venezuelan migrants drew sharp backlash from the segment's correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, The Hill reported on Monday.
Alfonsi pushed back on suggestions that the decision to pull the segment was an editorial one, saying in an email that the "story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices."
"It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now — after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one."
The New York Times reported the decision was made after Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor in chief, "requested numerous changes to the segment" and said that it "needed additional reporting."
According to NPR, Weiss said the segment could not air without first getting an on-the-record statement from the Trump administration.
But Alfonsi pointed out in her email that relevant government agencies and the White House did not provide a response when given the opportunity to do so.
"Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story," Alfonsi wrote.
"If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a 'kill switch' for any reporting they find inconvenient."
Alfonsi added that the program had been promoting the story on social media for days and that "viewers are expecting it."
"When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship," she wrote. "We are trading 50 years of 'Gold Standard' reputation for a single week of political quiet."
"I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight," added Alfonsi.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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