Cecilia Vega of 60 Minutes says she felt pressure from CBS to add ‘political bias’
Former CBS correspondent Cecilia Vega claims network executives pressured her to inject political bias into stories, including demanding non-existent footage and suppressing reporting on key issues.
Former 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega said Thursday that CBS News executives pressured her to incorporate “political bias” into segments for the program. She made the remarks during an interview at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ annual conference in New Orleans, as first reported by Status and cited by the New York Times.
Vega stated that she had never before in her 25-year career felt that editorial suggestions came from “a place of misinformation or politics.” She gave several examples: while finishing a segment on deadly federal immigration operations in Minnesota where ICE agents fatally shot two US citizens, she was told to include footage of protesters attacking agents — but such footage did not exist. She was also questioned about why she did not interview JD Vance for a piece on poverty in West Virginia focused on Trump administration cuts to food stamps. Additionally, she was asked to report on comments from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urging local police to fight federal immigration agents, despite no evidence such comments were made.
Vega was fired from CBS this spring. She expressed concern for the future of 60 Minutes following a leadership shakeup since Bari Weiss was appointed editor-in-chief last October by Paramount CEO David Ellison, a Trump ally. Weiss, who has no broadcast news background, founded the Free Press (acquired by Paramount) and is known for criticizing liberal institutions and “cancel culture.” In a May statement, Vega said her teams had experienced “efforts to insert political bias” and that reporters withheld pitches “out of fear of internal repercussions,” calling it “censorship … dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.” CBS responded at the time that her claims were “not based in reality.”
Since Weiss’s appointment, there have been multiple firings at 60 Minutes. Veteran correspondent Scott Pelley, fired after a tense meeting, accused Weiss of “murdering” the show, saying she was “brought in to kill it.” Weiss also faced scrutiny after delaying a segment on deportations to El Salvador’s notorious prison, which correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi called “a political decision.”
