Backlash after CBS pulls 60 Minutes report on Salvadoran mega-prison

Backlash after CBS pulls 60 Minutes report on Salvador’s CECOT prison The correspondent behind the story says it was postponed for political reasons, while network says it needs more work. The new leadership of CBS News is facing an outcry over alleged political interference in its coverage after a report on a controversial Salvadoran prison where the Trump administration has deported immigrants was pulled at the eleventh hour. Criticism of the network grew on Monday after an investigation into alleged abuses at El Salvador’s maximum - security Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) was pulled just hours before it was scheduled to air on the flagship 60 Minutes current affairs programme the previous night. The abrupt move led to accusations from ​inside 60 Minutes and across the US media landscape that the broadcaster’s parent company, Paramount Skydance, appeared to be censoring news content to curry favour with the Trump administration. A CBS News spokesperson said in an email that the segment “needed additional reporting”, while a statement posted on the show’s social media pages said the report - “Inside CECOT” - “will air in a future broadcast”. However, in an email to CBS News colleagues, which was reported by the US media after being leaked, Sharyn Alfonsi, the correspondent who reported the piece, said the report had been pulled for “political” reasons. “Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi wrote. “It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.” She added: “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient.” ‘Abuses’ at mega-prison The story - circulated online on Monday after it appeared to have streamed on Canada’s Global TV app - included allegations that Venezuelan deportees sent to the mega-prison had been tortured, and raised questions about how the United States characterised them. Located on the edge of a jungle 75km (47 miles) southeast of San Salvador, CECOT is a huge, maximum-security facility touted by El Salvador’s right-wing President Nayib Bukele as the centrepiece of his attempt to tackle narcotics gangs. The facility has been at the centre of a major US legal case since March, when the Trump administration sent hundreds of Venezuelan and other migrants there, despite a judge’s order that they be returned to the US. Several deportees who have since been released have described repeated abuse at the facility, where human rights activists say inmates are treated brutally. Push for ‘varied perspectives’ at network The broadcaster’s decision to postpone the story follows growing criticism that it is increasingly pivoting towards an editorial line more in step with the conservative Trump administration. Skydance Media, run by David Ellison - the son of Larry Ellison, a key donor to President Donald Trump ahead of his election last year - acquired Paramount...

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