Guardian Op-Ed Accuses Bari Weiss of Censoring 60 Minutes Report on El Salvador Prison Conditions
An op-ed published by The Guardian accuses Bari Weiss of censoring a 60 Minutes report investigating prison conditions in El Salvador involving Venezuelan migrants in an effort to protect powerful interests. The segment in question had been edited, fact-checked, reviewed by standards and legal teams, and even promoted with trailers prior to its planned airing. However, Weiss reportedly pulled the piece days before it was set to run, claiming it was not ready and suggesting that commentary from the Trump administration should first be obtained.
60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi stated that substantive government comment was sought but ultimately denied, and that the story would have included on-camera testimony from a migrant. The author of the piece argues that Weiss’s decision amounts to censorship by an editor shielding oligarchic interests, ultimately harming the credibility of CBS News. Weiss reportedly reports to David Ellison, whose family controls Paramount Skydance, CBS’s parent company, which is involved in merger talks with Warner Bros Discovery amid possible regulatory influence by the Trump administration.
The article also references a prior settlement between Paramount and the Trump administration over edits made by 60 Minutes to a Kamala Harris pre-election interview, suggesting a pattern of alignment with Trump. Additionally, a federal judge recently ordered the Trump administration to propose plans to either return the migrants to the US or grant them a hearing, underscoring the ongoing newsworthiness of the story.
The piece concludes with a call for Weiss to green-light the report and to act as an editor serving journalistic integrity rather than as a participant in oligarchic interests.
