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One tries to give people the benefit of the doubt. But now, when it comes to Bari Weiss as the editor in chief of CBS News, there is no longer any doubt.
A broadcast-news neophyte, Weiss has no business in that exalted role. She proved that beyond any remaining doubt last weekend, pulling a powerful and important piece of journalism just days before it was due to air, charging that it wasn’t ready. Whatever her claims about the story’s supposed flaws, this looks like a clear case of censorship-by-editor to protect the interests of powerful, rich and influential people.
The 60 Minutes piece – about the brutal conditions at an El Salvador prison where the Trump administration has sent Venezuelan migrants without due process – had already been thoroughly edited, fact-checked and sent through the network’s standards desk and its legal department. The story was promoted and scheduled, and trailers for it were getting millions of views.
I’m less bothered by the screw-ups in this situation – for example, the segment is already all over the internet as, essentially, a Canadian bootleg – than I am by her apparent willingness to use her position to protect the powerful and take care of business for the oligarchy. Which appears to be precisely what she was hired to do.
Journalism is supposed to “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted”, but Weiss seems to have it backwards.
I can’t know what’s in her mind, of course, but I know her actions – her gaslighting about how it would be such a disservice to the public to publish this supposedly incomplete piece, and her ridiculous offer to provide a storied reporting staff with a couple of phone numbers of highly placed Trump officials.
Weiss insists that the story needs Trump administration comment before it can run.
But correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi has argued – eloquently and persuasively – that 60 Minutes repeatedly sought substantive comment and was turned down. In a memorable phrase, Alfonsi charges that if that’s an acceptable reason for spiking a story, it’s tantamount to giving the government a “kill switch” for any story they don’t like. Just refuse to comment, and it dies on the vine.
It is also nonsensical of Weiss to suggest – again, gaslighting – that the piece somehow lacked sufficient newsworthiness because other news organizations had reported on the prison earlier.
As if to counter this specious claim, a federal judge this week ordered the Trump administration to submit plans to return the migrants to the US or give them a hearing. This story is hardly old news.
What’s more, hearing directly from an abused migrant on camera, getting his description of the torture and seeing the images of inhumane treatment is striking and newsworthy. TV brings it home, quite literally.
Again, I don’t know what’s inside Weiss’s head – but I do know the context. In an unusual chain of command, Weiss reports directly to David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, a Trump buddy and one of the world’s richest people.
The Ellisons control CBS’s parent company, Paramount Skydance, which is making an aggressive effort to buy Warner Brothers Discovery. They would have to overcome an offer from Netflix that has already been accepted.
How? Well, federal regulators (and therefore Trump, who has expressed his interest) would, naturally, have some sway over who succeeds.
The Ellisons surely wouldn’t want to antagonize anyone at this critical moment. And notably, if Paramount prevails, they would control CNN, and could do there what they’re doing at CBS News – they could install new editorial leadership that’s more agreeable. Trump has complained bitterly for years about CNN; this matters to him.
Conveniently, there’s a blueprint available for how to cozy up to Trump by buckling. A few months ago, as an earlier Paramount merger was on the line, the company chose to settle a frivolous legal claim by Trump over 60 Minutes’ routine editing of a pre-election interview with Kamala Harris.
Stephen Colbert, you might recall, termed this a “big, fat bribe”. Then his late-night show was canceled, effective next spring. Ratings, don’t you know?
Trump received his settlement along with a side order of bragging rights, and a few weeks later, the Paramount merger went through. Yes, everybody got theirs – except the public and the CBS News staff.
As editor in chief, of course, Weiss has the power to make the decision she did. That comes with the job.
But it doesn’t make her decision right. It wasn’t. She’s damaged the institution she’s supposed to be the steward of and, far less importantly, hurt her own reputation. Inadvertently, she has also made sure that far more people are aware of this story, and the horrible underlying situation, than if the story had simply run as planned.
At this point, Weiss ought to cut her losses, green-light the piece, and try to start acting like an editor – not like a cog in the machine of authoritarian politics and oligarchy.
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Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture
