CBS News editor-in-chief argues in memo that network’s priority was ‘comprehensive and fair’ coverage

In the memo sent to staff on Christmas Eve, Weiss said news organizations needed to do more to win back the trust of the American public and vowed that “no amount of outrage” would “derail us”.

“We are not out to score points with one side of the political spectrum or to win followers on social media,” according to the memo, signed by Weiss and other CBS News leadership and published in full by several media outlets. “We are out to inform the American public and to get the story right.”

The internal battle over the story exploded into public view after CBS announced the segment would not be a part of the show, despite extensive promotion. Weiss’s last-minute decision to hold the episode sparked outrage and charges of censorship amid Donald Trump’s second administration, though some conservative commentators generally aligned with the president have defended the move. In a private email sent to 60 Minutes correspondents that was subsequently made public, CBS correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, who spent weeks reporting the episode, called the decision a “political one”.