Bari Weiss defends ’60 Minutes’ story again

Bari Weiss has once again defended her decision to publish an article on 60 Minutes about the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to a prison in El Salvador.

Weiss sent a memo to staff on Christmas Eve regarding the controversial decision. She said the majority of Americans say they don’t “trust the press.”

“It’s not because they’re crazy. To regain their trust, we have to work hard. Sometimes that means doing more legwork. Sometimes that means telling unexpected stories. Sometimes that means calling our attention to topics that have been overlooked or misinterpreted. And sometimes that means publishing an article on an important topic to make sure it’s complete and fair,” she wrote.

She added that in “our moment of upheaval, this can seem radical.”

“Such editorial decisions can cause a storm, especially in a slow news week. And the standards of fairness we hold ourselves to, especially on controversial topics, will surely seem controversial to those who are accustomed to doing things a certain way. But to fulfill our mission, it is necessary. No amount of outrage, whether from activist organizations or the White House, will derail us. We are not seeking to score points with one side of the political spectrum or to gaining followers on social media. We want to inform the American public and get the story right. Restoring the integrity of the information is a difficult task, we cannot think of a more important task,” she continued.

The message was signed by Weiss, CBS News editor-in-chief, Tom Cibrowski, president and editor-in-chief, as well as editors Charles Forelle and Adam Rubenstein.

This comes two days after Weiss told colleagues she decided to keep the article because it was “not ready” and did not advance the story.

The move was criticized by Sharyn Alfonsi, the correspondent who worked on the article, who called it “political.”

The article featured interviews with Venezuelan deportees sent by the Trump administration to the harsh CECOT prison in El Salvador.

Some viewers have already had the chance to watch the segment, after it was leaked online. The Canadian channel Global TV, which broadcasts 60 Minutes north of the border, had presented the article on its application before it was withdrawn.

Weiss ended the note by wishing her staff a Merry Christmas. “Special thanks to everyone who works during these holidays,” she concluded.