'60 Minutes' correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi says CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss pulled story on El Salvadoran prison

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss spiked a "60 Minutes" piece about a notorious El Salvadoran prison from Sunday's broadcast under political pressure, according to an internal memo from the story's correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi.

In a note distributed internally at CBS News, which was later leaked to reporters, Alfonsi wrote, "I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight [Sunday.]. We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity." In the memo, Alfonsi — a 10-year veteran of the broadcast — wrote, "our 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."

"Ori" apparently refers to the producer of the piece, Oriana Zill de Granados, a 15-year "60 Minutes" veteran, and formerly a producer for PBS' Frontline. "Inside CECOT" refers to the maximum security prison in El Salvador where hundreds of Venezuelan migrants living in the United States have been sent.

In a statement posted on The Wall Street Journal's website, Weiss said: "My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be. Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready." Weiss, a former New York Times opinion writer, and later founder of The Free Press, a news site that was sold to CBS' new owner, Skydance Media, was named the news division's editor-in-chief after Paramount was taken over by Skydance.

The "60 Minutes" piece on conditions inside CECOT would have been at least the second time this year the broadcast has reported on the El Salvadoran prison. An April story on prisoners found that "the government has released very little information about the men, but through internal government documents, we've obtained a list of their identities and found that an overwhelming majority have no apparent criminal convictions or even criminal charges. They are now prisoners. Among them, a makeup artist, a soccer player, and a food delivery driver. Being held in a place so harsh that El Salvador's justice minister once said the only way out is in a coffin."

Sunday's piece was apparently a sequel to that earlier story, with interviews of released prisoners and "the brutal and torturous conditions they endured," according to promos that had aired earlier.

In the memo — first reported by The Wall Street Journal late Sunday — Alfonsi wrote, "We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS [Department of Homeland Security], the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story."

She added, "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. If the standard for airing a story becomes 'the government must agree to be interviewed,' then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast. We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state."

Alfonsi went on to compare the story's removal to CBS' 1996 spiking of a Mike Wallace and Lowell Bergman-reported story on tobacco whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand. Alfonsi wrote that "nearly destroyed the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that "low point." By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones. We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of 'Gold Standard' reputation for a single week of political quiet."

President Donald Trump earlier sued "60 Minutes" over an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, saying it had been edited to put her in a favorable light — a lawsuit widely ridiculed as baseless, but which CBS settled anyway for $16 million. The broadcast's executive producer, Bill Owens, later resigned, citing interference from company executives.