By Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) — Earlier this month, after President Donald Trump blasted “60 Minutes” for interviewing Marjorie Taylor Greene, correspondents noticed a change behind the scenes.
“Bari Weiss got personally involved,” specifically with stories about politics, a source at the program told CNN.
It was her prerogative as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News, and some conservative critics of the CBS newsmagazine would probably say it was necessary. But her presence prompted concern among “60 Minutes” journalists — and perhaps now the program’s viewers are finding out why.
Over the weekend, Weiss sparked a crisis inside “60 Minutes” by shelving Sharyn Alfonsi’s report about Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to a notorious maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Alfonsi said in an internal memo that “the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship.” Weiss, who reports directly to Paramount CEO David Ellison, pushed back by saying the story was “not ready.”
Weiss also said in a statement, “I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready.”
In the meantime, there is a sudden surge of audience interest in the prison, known as CECOT, and the allegations of abuse there. Human Rights Watch said last month that “many of these abuses constitute torture under international human rights law.”
Let’s walk through the timeline of how this controversy unfolded.
Timing is everything
Alfonsi’s story, titled “INSIDE CECOT,” was many weeks in the making. Weiss first screened the segment on Thursday night, two CBS News sources told CNN. She had some notes for the producers, but the story moved forward.
In total, the story “was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi wrote in her memo. “It is factually correct.”
Come Friday, the staff thought the story was ready to go. Alfonsi taped her introductory remarks. Executive producer Tanya Simon gave CBS News PR the green light to publicize the segment. “60 Minutes” segments are announced in advance, usually on Fridays, for promotional purposes.
And that’s why the next turn of events generated so much turmoil inside the network news division.
On Saturday morning, Weiss messaged Simon with additional concerns about the story, two CBS sources told CNN. One of the main issues was the lack of a response from the Trump administration to the reporting. She also “took issue with the phrasing of ‘migrant detainees,’” one of the sources said.
Of course, that’s Weiss’s prerogative as the top editor. But everyone at CBS News knows how “60 Minutes”