Former 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega has alleged that CBS News executives pressured her to include political bias in reports while she worked on the flagship news programme.
Vega made the claims on Thursday during an onstage conversation with ABC News correspondent John Quiñones at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ annual conference in New Orleans.
Reflecting on her experience in journalism, Vega said editorial disagreements were common throughout her career, but she had never previously questioned the motivation behind them.
“I’ve gone head-to-head with editors for 25 years in this business,” Vega said. “But never in my career, until now, have I felt that those edits, that those suggestions, came from a place of misinformation or politics.”
She alleged that while finalising a report on a deadly federal immigration operation in Minnesota, in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents fatally shot two American citizens, she was instructed to include footage of protesters attacking ICE officers.
According to Vega, no such footage existed.
The former correspondent also claimed she was challenged over her decision not to interview U.S. Vice President JD Vance for a report examining poverty in West Virginia. The story focused on the Trump administration’s cuts to SNAP food assistance benefits.
She further alleged that editors encouraged her to report claims that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey wanted local police officers to confront federal immigration agents, despite there being no evidence that he had made such remarks.
After leaving the network earlier this year, Vega publicly expressed concern about the future of 60 Minutes, citing editorial changes following the appointment of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News.
Weiss, who previously founded media outlet The Free Press, was appointed after Paramount CEO David Ellison took over leadership of the company.
In a statement issued after her departure, Vega said, “In recent months, my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories. Reporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of the internal repercussions.”
“Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both imposed and self-driven. It is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy.”
CBS News rejected the allegations at the time.
“We respect Ms Vega and her contributions, but her claims are not based in reality,” a network spokesperson said.
Weiss has also faced criticism over editorial decisions at 60 Minutes, including delaying a report on the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador. The programme’s correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, reportedly described the delay as “a political one.”
The newsroom has also experienced a series of high-profile departures since Weiss assumed leadership.
Veteran correspondent Scott Pelley was among those who publicly criticised the changes, accusing Weiss during a staff meeting of “murdering” the programme.
“She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that,” Pelley said before later leaving the network.
