SAG-AFTRA & WGAE Condemn CBS News’ ’60 Minutes’ Firings

UPDATED: SAG-AFTRA called the firing of Scott Pelley and other correspondents “shocking,” characterizing it as management’s “continued assault on the foundations of CBS News.”

“Like all workers, journalists have the right under federal law to speak up on behalf of their colleagues about workplace concerns without fear of employer retaliation or punitive action,” the guild said. “SAG-AFTRA is prepared to take and support any and all legal actions related to the company’s conduct over the last several weeks.”

Pelley was fired after he had a verbal confrontation of the new executive producer of 60 Minutes, Nick Bilton.

SAG-AFTRA’s statement continued, “Following the company’s decision to shut down CBS News Radio and lay off employees across multiple platforms in March, the 60 Minutes decisions can only be seen as part of a broader strategy to gut the crucial independent journalism that is so important to our democratic system.”

“The dedicated journalists who work for CBS deserve management’s respect and trust to do their jobs without interference from forces and interests that should have no role in the editorial process.”

Earlier, the president of the Writers Guild of America, East, Tom Fontana, weighed in, arguing that the firings show that top brass have “profound contempt for the journalism profession.”

Fontana wrote in a letter to members, “In the past year, CBS has enacted cruel and needless layoffs across the organization and shuttered CBS News Radio. In addition, based on a string of public reporting and confidential reports from WGAE members, it is clear that CBS brass is engaged in a near-constant level of editorial interference that would have previously been unthinkable.”

Citing the firing of Pelley, Fontana wrote that “CBS management is apparently too thin-skinned to handle the honest scrutiny of their own journalists.”

“These assaults on CBS News, an institution of American journalism for nearly a century, are more than mere ideological interference with the news,” Fontana wrote. “They display a profound contempt for the journalism profession, for our members who have dedicated their lives to informing the public about the world, and for the ethics that underpin true journalism, chief among them honesty, integrity, and objectivity.”

SAG-AFTRA and WGAE membership includes CBS News on-air personnel and writers. The WGAE has previously criticized network layoffs, the closure of CBS News Radio and the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s late-night show, among other recent moves of the network.

“To our friends and colleagues at CBS News: we see you, and you are not alone. Thousands of your union brothers, sisters, and siblings have your backs. We stand shoulder to shoulder with you now, we will be there with you when this difficult time in American life passes, and we will help you build what comes next,” Fontana wrote.

A CBS News spokesperson said in a statement, “There is no political interference at CBS News, not from ownership, not from Bari Weiss. The only ‘interference’ is the normal back and forth between editor and correspondent that happens in every newsroom.”

Pelley was fired on Tuesday evening, ending a 37-year tenure at the network that included a long run as 60 Minutes correspondent and a stint as anchor of the CBS Evening News. Last week, CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss ousted 60 Minutes executive producer Tanya Simon, replacing her with tech journalist Nick Bilton. Also fired were other top producers of the show, as well as correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.