Pelley: CBS News Told Reporters To Favor Trump's Viewpoint

Scott Pelley said Wednesday that CBS News leadership directed its journalists to shape coverage around President Donald Trump's administration, describing an instruction he said he had never encountered in his career. "In my experience, and having talked to my colleagues as well, there was an imperative to move our coverage in the direction of the president. To put a thumb on the scale, if you will, in terms of the president's viewpoint," Pelley said at a panel discussion hosted by Speak Up For Justice.

Pelley spoke roughly five months after he was dismissed from '60 Minutes.' He told the audience that corporate pressure on the CBS News newsroom was unlike anything he had seen before. "This was corporate influence coming into the news division saying, 'We want you to report stories with this particular bent, in terms of politics," Pelley said. "It was anathema to all of us who had worked at '60 Minutes' for so many years, and we fought the battle against it. We pushed back against it and that led to last year, the complete gutting of '60 Minutes.'"

He did not identify specific executives by name. His dismissal followed a June staff meeting where he publicly criticized CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. "She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that," Pelley said of Weiss, who previously founded The Free Press and was appointed to lead CBS News after Paramount was acquired by Skydance in 2025.

The program has lost several staff members since Weiss took over. Correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi departed after disagreements with Weiss and executive producer Nick Bilton, whom Weiss selected. Producers Tanya Simon and Draggan Mihailovich also left the show over editorial disputes. Anderson Cooper departed the program in May, citing a wish to spend more time with family, though he addressed the program's editorial independence in his final broadcast. "I think the independence of '60 Minutes' has been critical," Cooper told viewers. "I think also the variety of stories. And I think the trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of '60 Minutes.'"