CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is preparing a major overhaul of the network’s flagship news program 60 Minutes, planning to implement changes once the show’s current season ends in May, according to a report by journalist Oliver Darcy in his Status newsletter.
Weiss has privately told colleagues she intends to “revamp” the long-running investigative series, which first aired in 1968 and remains one of television’s highest-rated news programs, Darcy reported Tuesday. After initially exploring mid-season changes, Weiss and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski and other leaders agreed to postpone action until the season concludes. One source told Darcy Weiss would “blow it up as soon as the season is over,” while another staffer said “no one knows what to expect.”
Specifics of Weiss’s plan remain thin in the report, but she is said to favor bringing in younger correspondents who are more closely aligned with her editorial outlook and is exerting influence over staffing decisions that have traditionally been made by 60 Minutes’s executive producer. The involvement of an editor-in-chief at this level of day-to-day program staffing would mark a notable shift in how the venerable program is managed.
The proposed shake-up comes amid broader, rapid changes at CBS News since Weiss was named editor-in-chief in October after Paramount acquired her digital outlet, The Free Press. Under Weiss and Paramount executive David Ellison, the network has cut roughly 6 percent of its staff and closed CBS Radio, moves that have contributed to unease inside the newsroom. In January Weiss told employees they should leave if they did not believe she was the “right leader” for the organization, according to earlier reporting.
Weiss’s tenure has also been punctuated by several flashpoints between newsroom staff and management. In November she greeted former President Donald Trump with kisses on the cheek after his 60 Minutes interview, a moment that prompted criticism from colleagues. In December she held up a 60 Minutes segment about El Salvador’s CECOT prison shortly before it was set to air, prompting what staffers described as a revolt; the segment eventually aired in January and drew about 5.1 million viewers. Darcy’s newsletter has reported that Weiss expressed frustration with correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi over that episode and that it is “difficult to envision a scenario” in which Alfonsi’s contract is renewed.
The report also highlights struggles at CBS’s evening newscast. Weiss tapped Tony Dokoupil to anchor a reboot of CBS Evening News; his early promotional clips drew internal ridicule and the program’s ratings slipped below 4 million in March, a threshold that previously triggered executive alarm and even the cancellation of past iterations of the broadcast. Dokoupil’s numbers have trailed rivals at ABC and NBC, according to trade reporting.
CBS News did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Weiss’s precise timetable and editorial blueprint for 60 Minutes remain unclear. The network’s decision-making in the coming weeks will be closely watched by viewers and staff alike, as CBS balances the program’s storied legacy with new leadership’s desire to reshape its future.