Calling for ‘new approach,’ CBS News Leader Bari Weiss Replaces Executive Producer at ’60 Minutes’
CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss has replaced the executive producer of 60 Minutes, naming longtime technology journalist and documentarian Nick Bilton as the new leader of one of the most recognizable news programs in American television.
Tanya Simon, who had been named executive producer about a year ago after spending three decades with the Sunday evening program, is leaving the role. The change marks another major shakeup for 60 Minutes, the newsmagazine that premiered in 1968 and remains known for its signature ticking stopwatch.
In a memo to staff Thursday, Weiss and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski said the network’s goal is “building a show that thrives in the 21st century.”
“That requires a new approach,” Weiss and Cibrowski wrote, describing the effort as “expanding ‘60 Minutes’ beyond a one hour television broadcast, deepening its role across CBS News, and holding everything we produce to the ambition, fairness, and fearlessness that have defined ‘60 Minutes’ at its best.”
Bilton, a former New York Times technology columnist, comes into the job without a traditional broadcast news background. Weiss and Cibrowski said he “embodies the energy and ambition that animated the founders of the show” and called him the right fit for the next era of the program.
In his own memo to staff, Bilton described 60 Minutes as “without exaggeration, the most important television journalism brand this country has ever produced.”
“The fact that this show has remained a fixed point in a culture is part of why this show still matters as much as it does,” Bilton wrote. “I don’t want to lose that. But the world we are reporting on, and the world we are reporting to, where people consume their news, has moved. And if we don’t move with it, in the ways that matter, we won’t be here for the next sixty years. I want to do everything humanly possible to ensure that we are.”
Other CBS News Departures Add To Turmoil
The leadership change was not the only move made Thursday. According to a person familiar with the situation who spoke anonymously, correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were also let go.
Alfonsi’s reporting had recently become part of the public discussion around CBS News after a segment about Trump administration deportees being held in a Salvadoran prison was abruptly pulled. The story eventually aired a month later after additional administration comment was added, though without on camera interviews with officials.
Alfonsi reportedly complained privately that the decision was political. The episode became one of several moments critics have watched closely as Weiss takes a larger role inside CBS News.
CBS News Changes Follow Paramount Settlement With Trump
The changes come after a difficult period for 60 Minutes and CBS parent company Paramount Global. In July of last year, Paramount settled out of court with President Donald Trump after he sued 60 Minutes over how the program handled an interview with Kamala Harris, his 2024 election opponent.
Since Weiss was hired in October by Paramount Global’s new management, she has quickly become a prominent and polarizing figure in journalism. Critics have watched whether her leadership is moving CBS News in a more Trump friendly direction. Trump administration officials have appeared more often on CBS News since her arrival, with Weiss sometimes helping arrange interviews.
President Trump was also interviewed by Norah O’Donnell on 60 Minutes on Nov. 2.
Anderson Cooper’s Exit Added To Questions Around The Program
In February, Anderson Cooper exited 60 Minutes, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. His departure still led to questions about whether it was connected to Weiss’ leadership.
Cooper had contributed stories to 60 Minutes through a job sharing arrangement with CNN, where his prime time program Anderson Cooper 360 has aired since 2003.
With Bilton now taking over, CBS News is signaling that 60 Minutes will not simply remain a Sunday night television staple. The network is preparing to push the program across more platforms while trying to preserve the reputation that made it one of television journalism’s longest running institutions.
