Scott Pelley is gone, fired from CBS News’ 60 Minutes after clashing with the new management at the network. He couldn’t get along with Bari Weiss or any of the new staffers she hired to revamp the program. Of course, rumors were circulating that others might follow, like Lesley Stahl, but the exodus seems to stop with Scott. No one else is leaving (via NY Post):
“60 Minutes” correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said Friday that they planned to stay on at the newsmagazine, capping days of turmoil for the show.
“We have had a hard time deciding whether to stay,” the three wrote in a memo to their colleagues at the program, but ultimately added: “We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die.”
They wrote that they were still “deeply upset by the firings” of executive producer Tanya Simon and high-ranking producer Draggan Mihailovich, whom they called “strong leaders who everyone respected.” Their colleague Scott Pelley was fired earlier this week after he challenged the newsmagazine’s new executive producer over the recent firings.
The longtime correspondents said that “as far as we can tell,” those leaders were fired because “they fought for our ‘60 Minutes’ values and stood up to protect our independence and integrity.”
“Newsrooms are not supposed to be run like dictatorships,” they added in the memo, obtained by NBC News.
The statement is the latest beat in the turmoil engulfing “60 Minutes,” America’s top-rated and most prestigious newsmagazine, which just ended its 58th season
The upheaval started last week, when several key senior staff members were let go.
So, after everything, Pelley was the only one shown the door. We’ve all moved on, and it’s a case of a man who thought of himself as some national treasure when he’s really not. He’s a nobody, either, but he's not on par with Cronkite or Huntley and Brinkley.
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