CBS just fumbled a hard-hitting "60 Minutes" segment on El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, only for it to slip through the cracks and air in Canada, Just The News reported.
This eyebrow-raising saga involves a delayed report on allegations of brutal treatment of migrants deported to El Salvador, a controversial editorial decision, and an accidental broadcast across the northern border.
The "60 Minutes" piece, spearheaded by reporter Sharyn Alfonsi, dug into claims of horrific abuse at CECOT, El Salvador’s maximum-security facility.
Interviews in the segment revealed chilling accounts of deported migrants enduring months of physical and sexual torment at the hands of prison authorities.
Notably, the El Salvador government has stayed mum on these serious accusations, offering no defense or explanation for the alleged conditions.
With such a gut-wrenching story, one might expect swift airing—but CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss hit the pause button at the last minute.
Weiss initially greenlit the segment last Thursday, gave her nod on Friday, but then pulled back on Saturday, citing a need for more balance in the reporting.
Her specific demand? On-camera statements from the Trump administration, rather than relying on a note that the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment.
As Alfonsi reported in the piece, the Department of Homeland Security “declined our request for an interview and referred all questions about CECOT to El Salvador.”
Now, let’s unpack that—shouldn’t a network trust its reporters to convey a refusal to comment, especially when it’s a government agency dodging accountability?
Other CBS and "60 Minutes" staff pushed back against Weiss’s hesitation, insisting the segment had already been rigorously vetted and was ready for primetime.
Alfonsi herself didn’t hold back, accusing Weiss of stalling for “political” reasons rather than legitimate editorial concerns, a charge that raises questions about whether policy debates are muzzling tough journalism.
While the segment was supposed to be reworked for a Monday airing based on the Friday-approved version, a glitch in the system led to an unexpected twist.
Due to a streaming mix-up, the original cut inadvertently aired in Canada on Global TV, which holds rights to "60 Minutes" in that market, leaving CBS red-faced over what CNN termed an “inadvertent” broadcast.
Neither the network nor "60 Minutes" has issued a statement on this accidental release, leaving viewers and critics alike to wonder how such a sensitive story slipped through the editorial net.
