“60 Minutes” correspondent Cecilia Vega stated Thursday that she was fired and issued a blistering assertion during which she accused CBS Information of “censorship, each imposed and self-driven.”
Vega, who joined the celebrated TV newsmagazine from ABC Information in 2023, stated her contract wasn’t up till March 2027. The community didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Vega obtained the ax in a serious shakeup on the long-running present. CBS Information Editor in Chief Bari Weiss ousted the manager producer, Tanya Simon, and changed her with Nick Bilton, a former New York Instances tech columnist and Self-importance Truthful contributor.
Sharyn Alfonsi, a veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent who clashed with Weiss over a phase on Donald Trump’s immigration policies, additionally exited after her contract was not renewed.
Learn Vega’s full message right here:
I used to be fired at the moment. My contract as a correspondent for 60 Minutes was not set to run out till March 2027. I’ve the utmost respect and admiration for my colleagues at 60 Minutes and the tales that air each Sunday. However I very a lot worry what comes subsequent for and the way forward for the legendary broadcast. In current months, my producing groups and I’ve skilled efforts to insert political bias into our tales. Reporting groups have held again on submitting story pitches about necessary information subjects out of worry of the interior repercussions. Let’s name this what it’s: censorship, each imposed and self-driven. It’s harmful for the present and harmful for democracy. I held the road and refused to include ideas that offend the conscience, a phrase I borrow from a colleague who has additionally fought to maintain questionable editorial ideas away from the info. I do know from many conversations with colleagues that many producing groups and correspondents engaged on the present at the moment have needed to combat to take care of editorial independence with regularity. I’m removed from the one 60 Minutes correspondent who has requested herself, “What’s my private purple line? How a lot can I push again earlier than I pay the value?” I’m pleased with the work I did for 60 Minutes. This season alone I used to be a part of groups that received two of the best honors in our occupation — a George Polk award and a duPont-Columbia award for our protection of Venezuelan migrants despatched by the Trump administration to El Salvador’s Cecot jail. And never for nothing, I climbed to Mount Everest. I additionally stroll away with an honor nobody can take from me: I used to be the primary Latina correspondent to ever be on 60 Minutes. In the present day I misplaced an incredible job. However I nonetheless have my integrity. To my former colleagues, proceed to carry the road.
