Mastodawn

#60Minutes correspondent says CBS’s #BariWeiss abruptly pulled segment on #Trump #deportations 
In a move that drew harsh criticism from its own correspondent, #CBSNews abruptly removed a segment from Sunday’s episode of “60 Minutes” that was to feature the stories of Venezuelan men deported by the Trump admin to what the program called a “brutal” prison in #ElSalvador.

#Law #FreePress #censorship #immigration #rendition #CECOT #HumanRights #torture
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/business/60-minutes-trump-bari-weiss.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

’60 Minutes’ Pulls Segment on Venezuelans Deported by Trump Administration, Drawing Criticism

Sharyn Alfonsi, a “60 Minutes” correspondent, criticized the network’s decision to remove her reporting from Sunday’s edition of the show.

The New York Times

#CBS announced the change 3 hours before the broadcast, a highly unusual last-minute switch. The decision was made after #BariWeiss, the new editor in chief of #CBSNews, requested numerous changes to the segment. CBS News said in a statement that the segment would air at a later date & “needed additional reporting.”

#Trump #Law #FreePress #censorship #immigration #rendition #CECOT #HumanRights #torture

But #SharynAlfonsi, the veteran “#60Minutes” correspondent who reported the segment, rejected that criticism in a private note to #CBS colleagues on Sunday.…

“Our story was screened 5 times & cleared by both CBS attorneys & Standards & Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”

#Trump #Law #FreePress #censorship #immigration #rendition #CECOT #HumanRights #torture

Sunday’s unusual events have once again placed “#60Minutes” at the center of a #media & #political fracas.

#BariWeiss was appointed in October after #DavidEllison, the owner of CBS’s parent company, #ParamountSkydance, acquired her independent “news” & opinion site, The Free Press.

Ellison’s acquisition of #Paramount earlier this year was approved by the #Trump admin only after Paramount paid $16M to settle a lawsuit that Trump had brought against “60 Minutes.”

#StateMedia #law #censorship

Ellison is currently making a hostile bid to outmaneuver a rival company, #Netflix, & acquire the media behemoth #WarnerBrosDiscovery. He has been courting Trump’s support for his bid, but #Trump has used recent episodes of “#60Minutes” to suggest he is displeased with Ellison’s stewardship of #CBS.

#StateMedia #law #extortion #FreePress #censorship #immigration #rendition #CECOT #HumanRights #torture

“For those people that think I am close with the new owners of #CBS, please understand that #60Minutes has treated me far worse since the so-called ‘takeover,’ than they have ever treated me before,” #Trump complained on Truth Social last week.

#democracy #StateMedia #law #extortion #FreePress #censorship #immigration #rendition #CECOT #HumanRights #torture

The segment was focused on #Venezuelans who were sent by the #Trump admin to #CECOT, a notorious prison in #ElSalvador. In a news release on Friday promoting the segment, #CBSNews said that Alfonsi had spoken with several men now released from the prison “who describe the brutal & torturous conditions they endured.”

#BariWeiss first saw the segment Thursday & raised numerous “concerns” to “#60Minutes” producers Friday & Saturday, & she asked for a significant amount of new material to be added…

One of Weiss’s suggestions was to include a fresh interview with #StephenMiller, White House deputy chief of staff & architect of Trump’s #immigration crackdown, or a similarly high-ranking #Trump admin official…. Weiss provided contact information for Miller to the “#60Minutes” staff.

Weiss also questioned the use of the term “migrants” to describe the #Venezuelans who were deported, saying that they were in the US illegally….

#democracy #StateMedia #law #FreePress

In her note, Alfonsi said that her team had requested comment from the #WhiteHouse, the #State Department, & #DHS. “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient,” Alfonsi wrote.

#Trump #CBSNews #democracy #StateMedia #law #extortion #FreePress #censorship #immigration #rendition #CECOT #HumanRights #torture

“We have been promoting this story on social media for days,” Alfonsi added. “Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate #censorship. We are trading 50 years of ‘gold standard’ reputation for a single week of political quiet.…I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight,” she wrote.

Reached Sunday, Alfonsi said, “I refer all questions to #BariWeiss.”

#Trump #StateMedia

And of course…

Monday, Paramount’s new, hostile offer to #WarnerBrosDiscovery: #LarryEllison will personally guarantee $40 billion

#Paramount said on Monday that Larry Ellison, father of Paramount’s chief executive #NepoBaby #DavidEllison, is personally guaranteeing the roughly $40.4 billion in equity that the company is offering as part of its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

#billionaires #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust #law
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/22/media/paramount-warner-bros-ellisons-revised-deal?cid=ios_app

Paramount’s new, hostile offer to Warner Bros. Discovery: Larry Ellison will personally guarantee $40 billion

Paramount has upped the ante in its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, announcing Monday that Larry Ellison will personally guarantee the tens of billions of dollars he is putting up to bankroll the transaction. The Ellisons will also let shareholders peer into the finances of their family trust.

CNN

The #WarnerBrosDiscovery board of directors has rejected Paramount’s bid multiple times, opting instead to go with an offer from #Netflix, which #WBD says is more valuable. The board also said #Paramount has misrepresented itself to WBD shareholders, calling into question the legitimacy of the deal’s “illusory” proposed financing.

#billionaires #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust #law

To counteract that critique, #Paramount said #Oracle founder #LarryEllison – the father of Paramount CEO #DavidEllison – will guarantee all $40.4 billion of the equity he’s putting up to finance the $78 billion deal. That’s a big guarantee, putting Larry Ellison on the hook for about a sixth of his roughly $250 billion net worth if something falls through.

#billionaires #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust #WarnerBrosDiscovery #WBD #Netflix #law

Just a reminder — #LarryEllison participated in #Trump’s #coup attempt.

Larry Ellison, #billionaire co-founder & chairman of the software company #Oracle & the biggest backer of #ElonMusk’s #Twitter takeover, participated in a call shortly after the #2020election that focused on strategies for contesting the “legitimacy” of the vote, acc/to court documents & a participant.

#law #billionaires #ElectionInterference #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/20/larry-ellison-oracle-trump-election-challenges/

#LarryEllison was also accused of conspiring to ethnically cleanse #Palestinians from #Israel-occupied territories, committing #WarCrimes, & funding #genocide. Though the lawsuit was dismissed.

#billionaires #Plutocracy #money #power #media #StateMedia #FreePress #censorship #antitrust #WarnerBrosDiscovery #WBD #Paramount #Oracle #law
https://www.reuters.com/article/world/palestinians-lawsuit-in-us-vs-adelson-others-is-revived-idUSKCN1Q826S/

Then there’s the whole southern plantation / Scottish Highlands crofting chimera that #LarryEllison has going on with #Oracle in Lānaʻi, Hawaii.

#billionaires #Plutocracy #money #power #law

@[email protected] And don't forget that #Oracle is the major player in the new "US" #TikTok deal, too (where Chinese company ByteDance gets to keep just under 20%) …

@Nonilex I was not aware of Ellison’s participation and I followed the before and after of #J6th pretty closely. Thank you for sharing this information!

Doug Baker - Elbows Up! 🇨🇦Dec 22

@Nonilex And #Oracle is one of the main backers in the purchase of #TikTok
Funny how these coincidences arise, eh/

Amoshias Dec 22

@Nonilex however it's important to remember that while 40b is a lot of money, the equivalent amount of money coming from you or me is... $0. I'm not bad off but I would still care if I dropped $100 in the street. $40b does not matter IN ANY WAY to Ellison, just like setting $44b on fire didn't matter to Musk. Their lives will not change in any way as a result of the loss.

CM Thiede Dec 22

@Nonilex Everything Trump touches, dies.

TC Won't Give In To Lies Dec 22

Shouldn't the Ellisons be answering questions about this too?

Ponygirl Dec 22

@Nonilex The evil that we are steeping in right now is astounding. Brought to us by billionaires- the true enemy of the people.

Grandpa Don Dec 22

@Nonilex
Everyone associated with 60 Minutes, or for that matter with CBS, should walk out. Some indie group with utube channel could hire the 60 min team and run the show in same timeslot. Advertising should sell well, & keep paying with every download in following days. The traditional broadcast networks have all been corrupted beyond salvage by the billionaire crowd. It is key to their world dominion strategy. Fuck them. Kill the networks. They insist tech will rule. Use it against them.

Dear Donald,

History is coming for you.

Love,
The Future

Shirley Eugest Dec 22

@Nonilex
Bari Weiss, right wing zealot was not hired for her noble aims.

@Nonilex
Needed additional political interference?