Inside the Shake-Up at “60 Minutes”: Bari Weiss’s Plan to Reclaim CBS News’ Credibility

By: Russ Spencer

The clock appears to be running out for some of the biggest names in broadcast journalism as Bari Weiss, CBS News’s newly installed editor in chief, prepares to remake the network’s flagship news magazine, “60 Minutes.”

According to a report on Monday in The New York Post, Weiss — who was tapped earlier this month by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to “restore balance” and recalibrate CBS’s journalistic compass — is wasting no time in confronting what she and senior network executives see as years of ideological drift and creative complacency.

Weiss’s appointment marks one of the most consequential power shifts in the network’s modern history. Known for her fearless criticism of institutional groupthink during her time at The New York Times and her subsequent work at The Free Press, the 41-year-old journalist has been handed a mandate to bring CBS News back to what insiders describe as “investigative first principles.”

But as The New York Post reported, Weiss’s arrival has also sparked a wave of anxiety among the network’s veterans — particularly at “60 Minutes,” where some of the show’s most storied correspondents could soon find themselves on the chopping block.

At the top of the rumored list of those at risk is Scott Pelley, one of “60 Minutes”’s longest-serving correspondents and former anchor of CBS Evening News. According to The New York Post report, Weiss and her allies have privately voiced frustration over Pelley’s on-air criticism of CBS’s corporate parent earlier this summer.

In June, Pelley stunned colleagues by publicly rebuking Paramount executives for agreeing to a $16 million settlement with President Trump, who had accused “60 Minutes” of deceptively editing an interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris. That broadcast, originally intended as a profile of Harris’s leadership style, became a political flashpoint after claims that the network had manipulated her remarks to appear more polished and sympathetic.

Weiss reportedly viewed Pelley’s tirade — broadcast live — as both unprofessional and emblematic of a newsroom culture she deems “insular, reactive, and self-congratulatory.”

Another name circulating in The New York Post’s reporting is Bill Whitaker, the veteran journalist who conducted the controversial Harris interview. Whitaker, 74, was criticized by insiders for delivering what one source called “a padded campaign infomercial” rather than a probing political report. According to The New York Post report, Weiss believes such editorial lapses have eroded “60 Minutes”’ reputation for rigor.

“Bari isn’t wrong to try to bring in new people,” one CBS insider admitted to The Post. “Scott and Bill are institutionally important, but they represent an era when the show stopped taking real risks. Most of the correspondents — and a lot of the audience — are geriatric.”

The most striking aspect of Weiss’s overhaul, sources told The New York Post, is her determination to restore the edge that once defined “60 Minutes.”

“‘60 Minutes’ has become the headquarters of book and movie launches,” a frustrated CBS producer told The Post. “It’s not the home of the investigative journalism of Mike Wallace anymore.”

Indeed, the show’s content in recent years has drifted toward glossy celebrity profiles and cultural fluff. While last year’s Emmy Award–winning investigation into “Havana Syndrome” demonstrated that the program could still deliver hard-hitting journalism, critics say that the current season’s opening lineup — featuring Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s “unity” appeal and a lighthearted sit-down with UFC chief Dana White — looked more like a weekend magazine show than a journalistic powerhouse.

In one recent segment, correspondent Cecilia Vega interviewed mentalist Oz Pearlman, who guessed the name of Vega’s third-grade teacher. The piece, as one insider told The New York Post, “was afternoon cable fare — not ‘60 Minutes’ caliber.”

Weiss reportedly views this shift toward personality-driven content as symptomatic of the network’s larger problem: a loss of intellectual curiosity and editorial courage. “CBS used to set the agenda,” a source close to the executive said. “Now it chases clicks and social engagement. Bari wants to change that.”

Weiss’s approach is not merely ideological but generational. As The New York Post report observed, most of “60 Minutes”’ correspondents are in their sixties or seventies, with some pushing into their eighties.

But age alone may not be the deciding factor. The show’s most senior journalist, Lesley Stahl, 83, who famously clashed with President Trump during his 2020 interview and later rejected his demand for an apology over her dismissal of The New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop reporting, is reportedly viewed by Weiss as a “national treasure.”

“She has institutional memory, gravitas, and a spine — exactly what Weiss wants the brand to project,” one insider told The Post. Stahl, according to the same source, is expected to remain a central figure at “60 Minutes” for at least another season.

Adding to the intrigue is the role of Tanya Simon, who succeeded Bill Owens as executive producer earlier this year after a Trump-related reshuffle in the upper ranks of CBS News.

Simon — the daughter of late “60 Minutes” correspondent Bob Simon — has long been regarded as both a newsroom traditionalist and an editorial reformer. As The New York Post reported, Simon herself had been planning a shake-up even before Weiss’s appointment, with a focus on “more hard-hitting” stories and fewer “soft entertainment pieces.”

Weiss’s arrival, therefore, may create an unusual alliance. “Tanya and Bari are aligned on the big picture,” one senior producer told The Post. “They both think the show’s gotten complacent.”

Still, questions remain over how Simon’s leadership style will mesh with Weiss’s famously uncompromising vision. Weiss, who has described her mission as one of “intellectual recalibration,” is known for defying convention and for her willingness to take on powerful cultural institutions. Whether she can navigate CBS’s layered corporate bureaucracy — let alone its unionized newsroom culture — remains to be seen.

The changes at “60 Minutes” are only the tip of a much larger transformation under way at CBS News. Weiss, alongside CBS News President Tom Cibrowski, is overseeing what insiders describe as a “top-down reset” aimed at cutting costs, modernizing operations, and restoring the network’s reputation for fearless journalism.

According to The New York Post report, major headcount reductions are expected this week, and no department is considered off-limits — not even the morning show.

Among those reportedly under review is Gayle King, co-host of “CBS Mornings” and one of the network’s most recognizable faces. King’s eight-figure salary, combined with the program’s continued third-place finish behind NBC’s Today and ABC’s Good Morning America, has made her position increasingly difficult to defend.

“Big changes are coming,” one CBS source told The Post. “The network needs to prove that it can deliver serious journalism — not just personality programming.”

At the heart of Weiss’s vision, according to The New York Post report, is the restoration of CBS News’s investigative DNA — a hallmark of the network since the days of Edward R. Murrow and Don Hewitt.

“There’s not much of an investigative reporting unit anymore,” one executive lamented. “The reality is, ‘60 Minutes’ has become the de facto investigative arm of CBS News — and even that has weakened.”

To remedy this, Weiss has reportedly reached out to Catherine Herridge, the former CBS investigative correspondent who departed the network after a series of internal clashes over her reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop and alleged intelligence community misconduct. Herridge, now regarded as a symbol of editorial independence, would represent the kind of aggressive journalism Weiss is eager to restore.

Meanwhile, the retirement of CBS Evening News co-anchor John Dickerson, announced on Monday, underscores the network’s willingness to clear the decks. Dickerson, who was earning several million annually, will leave at year’s end. Insiders told The New York Post that his co-anchor Maurice DuBois is also expected to step down soon, as Weiss and Cibrowski scout replacements capable of embodying the new CBS ethos.

For Paramount Skydance, Weiss’s appointment is part of a broader corporate gamble — one that acknowledges the existential threat facing legacy media in the era of digital fragmentation. CBS News’s ratings have slipped steadily in recent years, and its core demographic — older viewers — is aging out of the advertiser sweet spot.

By empowering Weiss, Ellison hopes to reinvigorate CBS’s brand credibility and lure back disaffected audiences who have migrated to cable and independent digital outlets. “It’s not about being conservative or liberal,” one Paramount executive told The New York Post. “It’s about restoring trust. Weiss has built her career on calling out bias from both sides. That’s exactly what CBS needs.”

Still, the risks are considerable. Weiss’s reputation as a media iconoclast — and her history of high-profile departures — could unsettle the very newsroom she is meant to lead. But those close to her say she is determined to see the overhaul through.

“Bari has no interest in presiding over decline,” one source told The New York Post. “She’s here to make CBS News great again — and she knows it’s going to get messy.”

In many ways, Weiss’s project at CBS News is more than a managerial reshuffle — it’s an ideological test of whether old-guard journalism can survive the moral polarization of the digital age.

Her mandate, as one producer put it to The New York Post, is “to remind CBS that facts are not partisan, and that courage in journalism means asking hard questions, not chasing applause.”

For “60 Minutes,” a program once synonymous with fearless reporting and institutional authority, that mission may prove both a resurrection and a reckoning. The venerable show that once terrified presidents and toppled corporations is now being forced to confront its own comfort zone.

Whether Bari Weiss can restore its edge without breaking its spirit will determine not only the fate of “60 Minutes” — but the credibility of CBS News itself.