It was turmoil inside CBS News all day Monday as stunned executives and journalists at one of the leading news brands in the world grappled with questions swirling about their own organization with no answers:
“Shell shocked. Gobsmacked,” were the reactions noted inside the 57th Street CBS News building, according to a news insider. “People were frightened.”
The explosive exchange between Pelley and Bilton was simply not the kind of interaction that anyone has seen at CBS News, a network focused on world leaders, war and revolution, social issues, politics and corruption. It is emphatically not a place where colleagues attack one another in the open.
According to aleaked recording, things quickly came to a head between Pelley and the new “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton in a group meeting Monday morning. During the meeting, Pelley said of Weiss, who appointed Bilton, “She’s murdering ‘60 Minutes.’ She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”
The comments underscore the level of frustration not just from Pelley, but a wider CBS News staff bombarded with multiple rounds of layoffs, shake-ups and tension-filled confrontations over the last eight months. The result has been nothing but skepticism and distrust over Weiss, leading to Monday’s outburst.
“What he did today was a firing offense,” said one senior individual on Monday evening.
And yet a spokesman for CBS News said he did not know if Pelley would be fired or indeed what, if any, response would be forthcoming.
Bilton walked out of the meeting after assuring Pelley, “I have no problem taking a job in a place that I am not welcome in.”
The new executive producer then addressed the “60 Minutes” correspondent directly, telling him before exiting the meeting, “Scott, I’m not intimidated by you. I look forward to talking to you in a one-on-one setting as these meetings are scheduled. And enjoy the bagels.”
Weiss herself was planning to attend the meeting, and was warned of an impending clash with staff, so she stayed away, insiders told me.
Source: Drudge Report
