"On Sunday night Bari Weiss, the editor of The Free Press and the new head of CBS News, abruptly stopped a forthcoming 60 Minutes report on the torture endured by migrants in the brutal El Salvadoran prison CECOT, where the Trump administration has sent more than 280 men. Trump supporters praised the decision from Weiss, who, notwithstanding her description of conditions at CECOT as "horrific," had previously praised El Salvadoran leader Nayib Bukele for making El Salvador safer."
"According to Sharyn Alfonsi, the correspondent who reported the segment, the story had already been reviewed by CBS News's legal and standards departments before it was pulled. "Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct," Alfonsi wrote in an email that was leaked to The New York Times and other outlets. "In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.""
"The reason this whole saga is disturbing is that many observers-Alfonsi among them-interpreted it as an instance of state censorship by proxy: the head of a news organization putting the brakes on a story the government would rather not air. Weiss was recently installed at the head of CBS News by Paramount's new owner, the pro-Trump billionaire David Ellison, which illustrates the risks of media consolidation, creating a single pressure point for an authoritarian government to coerce obedience if it so chooses."
Bari Weiss halted a forthcoming 60 Minutes segment exposing torture of migrants at CECOT, a brutal El Salvadoran prison where the Trump administration sent more than 280 men. Weiss had earlier described CECOT conditions as "horrific" yet previously praised Nayib Bukele for improving safety, and Trump supporters applauded the pull. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi said the story passed five legal and standards reviews and called the removal a political decision. Many observers interpreted the halt as state censorship by proxy, noting Weiss's recent installation by pro‑Trump billionaire David Ellison. Critics warned that media consolidation concentrates pressure points that authoritarian actors can exploit.
Read at The Atlantic
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