Cecilia Vega, one of the “60 Minutes” correspondents ousted in Thursday’s reorganization of the CBS News magazine, says she’s worried about the future of the program and where it may be headed under the management installed 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 very much fear what comes next for and the future of the legendary broadcast,” Vega said in a statement. “In recent months, my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories. Reporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of the internal repercussions. Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both imposed and self-driven. It is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.”
CBS News on Thursday said it had hired Nick Bilton, a former technology journalist and investigative reporter who has logged stints at The New York Times and Vanity Fair and who has recently worked in documentaries. Bilton told Variety in an interview Thursday that he is eager to find ways to put “60 Minutes” journalism in front of digital audience and to make the show more relevant other than its traditional TV appearances on Sunday evening.
A CBS News spokesperson declined to comment on the journalist’s assertions.
Vega joined “60 Minutes” in 2023 from ABC News, part of a move by former executive producer Bill Owens to carefully expand the hub of correspondents devoted to the program.
In an interview at the time, Owens said he was impressed by Vega’s range of reportorial experience as well as her time spent in print journalism. “When her window came up, I considered her the most valuable free agent on the market. I could not walk past that,” he said to Variety. “You have to think about the future of the show, and she will be part of the successful future of ’60 Minutes.’”
Vega said she was “fired,” and noted her current deal with “60 Minutes” was not set to expire until March of 2027. CBS News on Thursday also ousted her colleague Sharyn Alfonsi, along with the show’s two top executives, Tanya Simon and Draggan Mihailovich.
She also suggested she may have lost her job because she pushed back on directives from CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss and her team. CBS News personnel have said Weiss has strong opinions about Israel and other topics that are paramount in the current and recent news cycle.
“I held the line and refused to incorporate suggestions that offend the conscience, a phrase I borrow from a colleague who has also fought to keep questionable editorial suggestions away from the facts. I know from many conversations with colleagues that many producing teams and correspondents working on the show today have had to fight to maintain editorial independence with regularity. I am far from the only ’60 Minutes’ correspondent who has asked herself, ‘What is my personal red line? How much can I push back before I pay the price?’” Vega said in her note.
“I also walk away with an honor no one can take from me: I was the first Latina correspondent to ever be on ’60 Minutes.’ Today I lost an amazing job. But I still have my integrity.”
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