Bari Weiss’ efforts to revitalize CBS News have done little to solve the network’s ratings woes, but they have delivered plenty of drama.
The latest involves the Tiffany Network’s storied news magazine, 60 Minutes, which dumped its executive producer and several reporters last week as part of a broader shakeup. The moves were reportedly not well-received by the show’s rank and file or talent, resulting in a contentious meeting with the program’s new top brass Monday morning.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Emily Jashinsky, host of MK Media’s After Party, to discuss the latest in the CBS News saga and why Weiss was always going to face an uphill battle at the network.
Changing of the Guard
Last Thursday, 60 Minutes was hit with a surprise reshuffling that resulted in its executive producer, Tanya Simon, along with other senior-level producers and talent – including correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vaga – being shown the door.
Weiss replaced Simon with Nick Bilton, a former New York Times columnist and filmmaker with no formal broadcast news or television experience, making him only the fifth EP in the nearly 60-year history of the show.
The New York Post reported the hiring and firings sent “shockwaves” through CBS News’ New York City headquarters and were likened to “a bloodbath.” Bilton, meanwhile, told The Post that he is prepared to “take [60 Minutes] to another level” and was “excited to meet all the correspondents and producers.”
The Backlash
Said correspondents and producers, however, were apparently not as excited to meet their new boss. The New York Post and Puck News’ Dylan Byers reported that his first all-hands meeting did not go particularly well.
While the gathering was meant to be a routine meet-and-greet, things quickly soured. According to Byers, longtime correspondent Scott Pelley told Bilton he had “scant qualifications” for the job and pressed him on the unpopular firings. When Bilton reportedly suggested they have that conversation in private, Pelley said he would prefer to have it in front of his colleagues.
“They’re my colleagues too,” Bilton allegedly told Pelley; to which the reporter replied, “That remains to be seen.”
A source told The Post that Pelley also took aim at Weiss – who was brought in by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison after his Skydance Media acquired CBS parent company Paramount Global last summer – claiming she was “murdering 60 Minutes” and “was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”
He reportedly pointed to Weiss’ changes at the ratings-challenged CBS Evening News as one such example. “She has no qualifications for the job,” Pelley said of Weiss, according to the source. “The changes that she’s made at the Evening News have been catastrophic, so why should we expect that any of this is going to be any better?”
Bilton apparently tried to quell the rumors that he would turn the program into a social media-friendly format of “60 one-minute episodes,” instead saying “the show is going to stay exactly like it is for now.” But he also reportedly cautioned that “broadcast is an ice cube that is melting.”
When Pelley allegedly told his new boss that he “will never be welcome here,” a second source told The Post that Bilton replied he was not going to be intimidated. After a tense 15 minutes, Bilton reportedly ended the meeting and said “enjoy the bagels” on his way out.
His departure apparently sparked applause from those gathered, which the source believes Bilton would have heard from the hallway.
Weiss ‘Eaten Alive’
In Megyn’s view, the internal revolt at 60 Minutes and CBS News at large was entirely foreseeable. “Obviously, what they are learning the hard way is that, when it comes to broadcast journalism, the broadcast piece of it actually does mean something and having some experience would be highly relevant and helpful,” she explained. “They are learning the hard way that having zero experience – whether you are the editor-in-chief over there or the new head of 60 Minutes – does matter.”
Weiss’ lack of TV experience is something Megyn flagged from the beginning, and she believes Bilton will face similar troubles. “It will set you up to fail, if you don’t have it,” Megyn noted. “And guess what else? You won’t be respected by rank and file, who actually do take pride in understanding how to do not just journalism, but broadcast journalism, which involves a lot of other elements that they continue to get wrong under this new leadership.”
Organizations like CBS, Megyn cautioned, are not exactly known for their hospitality. “I worried they were going to eat [Bari] alive because CBS is among the worst when it comes to being insular. Like, you have to be raised at CBS to be respected by the CBS people,” she explained. “And it is happening right now. She is being eaten alive from within. She will not succeed in this position. It will not be held long term, and you can see it.”
Megyn said no amount of hiring or firing will change that. “Scott Pelley is a prig, and he is so annoying, and he is so elitist. However, it doesn’t matter what you and I think about Scott Pelley and his editorial judgment. What matters is inside of CBS,” she noted. “And unless they are prepared to get rid of everyone except for those three or four people who support Bari – and I mean on-air and off, behind the scenes tech staff, producing staff – they are going to have to deal with this problem, which is she is not respected. She is loathed, and it is not because of any one thing.”
“It is because she is not of them, and she hasn’t proven herself,” Megyn added. “She is not of television. She has been in journalism for about two minutes, and not even in broadcast television. So, it’s just not going to work out.”
Jashinsky agreed. “Your point about the culture at CBS is such an important one… There is this, like, preciousness about the brand that makes this kind of difficult because Bari has the worst critics in so many cases,” she explained. “I don’t have a lot of sympathy for Scott Pelley, who just doesn’t want any of this precious, precious product – which the American people are increasingly rejecting – to have a little bit of fresh air… Scott Pelley and Alfonsi and… whomever else is mad about some of this stuff… are the last people to have any credibility about what should be happening at this network.”
Even so, Megyn said that is unlikely to help Weiss or Bilton make meaningful inroads. “They can fire Sharyn Alfonsi, or this one, or that one. The entire organization is against her. She has like three friends over there,” she noted. “Pro tip to the Ellisons: You also, at CBS, have to have been raised in television. You have to understand what is in the mind of a television correspondent, what makes a good television story, what works and what doesn’t in a 60 Minutes piece… It’s a visual presentation. She has no background in this, they don’t respect her, and they never will.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Jashinsky by tuning in to episode 1,329 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.