Firings at ’60 Minutes,’ layoffs at NPR, the end of CBS Radio and Colbert: Thoughts at end of tough week for media

As Bari Weiss dismantles TV’s most successful news magazine, it’s worth asking what any of these moves achieve beyond furthering President Trump’s goal of silencing media outlets which he dislikes.

Switching Codes w/Eric Deggans, May 31, 2026

Imagine you have an amazing, classic car, which runs well and seems to improve its performance, year after year. It is the most-admired car among your friends and acquaintances. And everytime you hop inside, it delivers better than the performance you expect, winning awards and new fans every year you own it.

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Now imagine hiring someone with zero experience as a mechanic to completely overhaul the car because you’re worried, at some unknowable point in the future, the car may not perform as well as it is doing now.

That’s the closest comparison I can think of to what just happened at CBS News and 60 Minutes, where editor-in-chief Bari Weiss just fired as the show’s Executive Producer, Tanya Simon – a woman who worked on the program for more than 25 years, was its first female executive producer and is a daughter of former correspondent Bob Simon. This firing came, despite the fact that the show has top ratings, a digital audience which is robust and growing and is winning major awards.

As Simon’s replacement, Weiss hired Nick Bilton, an author, editor and writer who has never worked in broadcast TV news. To helm TV journalism’s most storied, admired and widely watched news magazine.

Feels a lot like electing someone president who has never been an elected official before. What could go wrong?

This news topped a tough week for journalism. NPR saw nearly 30 people leave, with 10 laid off, including close friends of mine. Ace journalists with loads of institutional knowledge like Neda Ulaby, Don Gonyea, Nell Greenfieldboyce and many others went out the door, despite record fundraising and donations.

It was something I feared would happen, once President Trump made plain his plans to defund public media. But it also part of a larger dynamic – a drive by this current administration to restrict, punish or eliminate independent journalism which dares to report stories the President does not like.

Defunding of public media, including PBS and NPR. The crippling of Voice of America. Layoffs of nearly half the newsroom at the Washington Post. The death of CBS Radio and Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show. These instances all seem connected to efforts by Trump and his allies to curb journalism and voices in media who dare to cross the current administration.

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