Murder, She Wrote

Scott Pelley said that Bari Weiss is murdering 60 Minutes

Getting rid of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to appease Donald Trump isn't the only poke in the eye of CBS by Paramount Skydance.

Bari Weiss, the network’s editor in chief, appointed by Paramount Skydance CEO and Trump ally David Ellison, has been accused by Scott Pelley of murdering 60 Minutes.

Ellison really wants to be on good terms with regulators in the Trump administration. He was at the inauguration, has attended UFC fights with Trump, and even hosted an invite-only Washington DC party for him.

Tech journalist and filmmaker Nick Bilton is the new executive producer of 60 Minutes, who was appointed last week after the firing of former producer Tanya Simon and her deputy, along with correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Bilton held a morning meeting in Midtown Manhattan, which was a formal introduction to the staff of 60 Minutes, where he was told by Pelley that he had “slender” qualifications for the job and that Beri Weiss was “murdering” 60 Minutes.

A recording of the meeting was obtained by The New York Times.

Weiss is/was an opinion journalist who was a longtime critic of legacy media institutions before she became the head of one. Bilton has never worked in traditional broadcast news. Pelley has been with CBS News for over 30 years.

Bilton said, “For me, the journalism is the journalism. That is why I am here. That is why we are all here. The rumors people are spreading, that I’m going to turn the show into 60 one-minute episodes, that it’s going to be like TikTok, that is not changing. The show is going to stay exactly like it is for now.”

He warned that the broadcast television industry that incubated 60 Minutes would soon be obsolete. He said, “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting, OK?” Bilton said the show had to adapt, and “Bari loves this institution. She loves 60 Minutes.” At that point, Pelley had heard enough, and he interrupted.

Pelly, in his famous baritone voice, said, “She is murdering 60 Minutes. She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.” Damn! You go, Pelley!

He added, “She has no qualifications for her job; you have slender qualifications for this job. 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?”

Pelley asked Bilton why he had accepted a position at a program “knowing that you will never be welcome here.”

Charles Forelle, a top deputy to Weiss, urged Pelley not to act “rude” toward Bilton, which sounds like he was telling Pelley to know his place. “I’m not being rude,” Pelley responded. “You know what was rude? Black Thursday was rude.”

Black Thursday was the day that the former producer and correspondents were fired.

It's good to know that while David Ellison, Bari Weiss, and this new and unqualified producer, Nick Bilton, are killing CBS News and 60 Minutes, the journalists remaining at the network are going to stand up and refuse to go silently into the night.

Bilton said, “For me, the journalism is the journalism.” If that is the case, then why did he accept a job with people who are trying to kill journalism?

Update: I received a breaking News alert tonight from the New York Times at 8:12 PM reporting that CBS has fired Scott Pelley. Nick Bilton, the new producer, said during last week's contentious meeting that “The show is going to stay exactly like it is for now.” He is a fucking liar.

Creative note: I had trouble today getting this cartoon the way I wanted it. I don't know how many times I actually drew this, as these are just the canvases, and I probably drew it four or five times on each canvas.

This is the sort of cartoon that I should have finished by noon. And instead, I wasn't done until well after 5 PM.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

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