Weiss defended her decision in a Christmas Eve email with the subject line ‘Building Trust.’
‘Right now, the majority of Americans say they do not trust the press. It isn’t because they’re crazy,’ Weiss began the message, which was leaked online by Zeteo reporter Prem Thakker.
‘To win back their trust, we have to work hard,’ she continued. ‘Sometimes that means doing more legwork. Sometimes it means training our attention on topics that have been overlooked or misconstrued.
‘And sometimes, it means holding a piece about an important subject to make sure it is comprehensive and fair.’
* * * * * * * *
‘We are not to score points with one side of the political spectrum or to win followers on social media,’ she said, in an apparent reference to veteran journalist Sharyn Alfonsi’s argument that ’60 Minutes’ had been advertising her ‘Inside CECOT’ segment on social media all week.
Instead, Weiss said, CBS News journalists ‘are out to inform the American public and to get the story right.
That’s certainly a valid goal for the network to shoot for; Dan Rather, Walter Cronkite, Katie Couric and Scott Pelley have all just entered the conversation.
Exit quote: “Sources at the network even told CNN, ‘People are threatening to quit over this.’”
Let them. It’s an awfully hollow threat, considering How many J-school graduates would absolutely kill to work for any network television news team.
Related:
The Axios reporting makes very clear that Bari was totally correct in pulling the segment.
The hacks who put it together just straight up refused to report what the US Government said in response, and then made it sound like they had refused to comment! pic.twitter.com/tTW4GAeNBs
— Maxwell Meyer (@mualphaxi) December 23, 2025