Former 60 Minutes Reporter Accuses CBS News of Pressuring Her to Add Political Bias

Former 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega said Thursday that she felt pressured by CBS News executives to incorporate political bias into broadcast segments.

Vega made the comments during an onstage interview with ABC News correspondent John Quiñones at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ annual conference in New Orleans. The remarks were first reported by Status.

While finalizing a segment on a deadly federal immigration operation in Minnesota—where ICE agents fatally shot two American citizens—Vega said she was told to insert footage of protesters attacking ICE agents, according to MS Now.

The footage did not exist, Vega asserted.

She was also questioned about why she did not interview JD Vance for a segment on poverty in West Virginia. The story focused on the Trump administration’s cuts to SNAP benefits, MS Now reported.

Vega further said she was asked to report on comments from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey suggesting he wanted local police to confront federal immigration agents in the state, even though no evidence of such remarks exists.

A CBS News spokesperson did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment on Vega’s allegations.

When Vega was terminated from the network this spring, she voiced concerns about the future of the flagship Sunday newsmagazine, which has undergone leadership changes after Bari Weiss was named CBS News’s editor‑in‑chief last October. Weiss, who lacks a broadcast‑news background, founded the media startup The Free Press, later acquired by Paramount, and is known for criticizing liberal institutions and what she calls “cancel culture.” The appointment was made by Paramount CEO David Ellison, a Trump ally.

“In recent months, my producing teams and I have experienced attempts to insert political bias into our stories. Reporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of internal repercussions,” Vega said in a May statement. “Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both imposed and self‑driven. It is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.”

“We respect Ms. Vega and her contributions, but her claims are not based in reality,” a CBS spokesperson said at the time.

Weiss faced scrutiny late last year when she delayed a segment about the federal government deporting hundreds of Venezuelans to a notorious El Salvador prison, citing a need for further reporting. The segment’s correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, described the decision as “a political one.”

Since Weiss took over, 60 Minutes has seen a wave of firings.

Veteran correspondent Scott Pelley criticized the cuts at the network, accusing Weiss in a tense meeting with 60 Minutes staff of “murdering” the show. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that,” Pelley said at the time. He was subsequently fired after the confrontation.

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