CBS News Declines to Renew Sharyn Alfonsi's Contract

CBS News has declined to renew Sharyn Alfonsi's contract as a correspondent for '60 Minutes', following an editorial dispute over a segment about a Salvadoran prison. According to multiple reports, Alfonsi's contract expired on Saturday, and CBS has no plans to renew it.

Alfonsi told The New York Times that the decision sends a 'chilling message' to the entire newsroom. She accused CBS of penalizing her for refusing to sanitize accurate reporting. The dispute stems from a segment about a mega-prison in El Salvador, where the U.S. has sent hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants without trial. The segment was pulled hours before it was due to air in December but aired on CBS a month later.

Alfonsi criticized the network's decision at the time, stating that the report was 'factually correct' and that pulling it for political reasons would give the administration a 'kill switch' for any reporting they find inconvenient. CBS News is owned by Paramount Skydance, which acquired Paramount in August 2023.

Under Bari Weiss's leadership as editor-in-chief, there have been several departures within the newsroom. Bill Owens, a top executive producer on '60 Minutes,' left in April of last year over concerns about journalistic independence. Anderson Cooper also gave an emotional farewell earlier this month, stressing the importance of maintaining journalistic independence.

Alfonsi's contract expired this past weekend but she remains employed at the division on an 'at will' basis, which means she can be terminated at any time, according to people familiar with the discussions. Producers who worked with Alfonsi have been assigned to other correspondents as significant changes loom for the '60 Minutes' staff in the coming days.

CBS News announced major changes for the Sunday newsmagazine show '60 Minutes', appointing Nick Bilton, a former New York Times tech journalist, as executive producer for the show’s 59th season. Tanya Simon, the daughter of legendary '60 Minutes' correspondent Bob Simon, has been ousted as the show’s top producer. The network has also parted ways with Cecilia Vega, a '60 Minutes' correspondent who joined the program in 2023, and Draggan Mihailovich, the executive editor who had spent decades on the show.

In a blistering statement, Alfonsi called out the network’s decision-making and claimed that she was penalized for pushing back on Weiss’s criticism of her December 2025 segment about a notorious prison in El Salvador. The moves represent one of the most significant shake-ups of the venerable program, which has been the most-watched news program on television.

Bilton's appointment is seen as significant and likely to generate heat from the staff of '60 Minutes,' who have been loyal to Simon and viewed her promotion to executive producer last year as an indication that the new leadership of CBS News parent company Paramount wanted to preserve the show’s winning formula. Bilton acknowledged the show’s history but noted changes in how people consume news.

Bilton stated, 'The fact that this show has remained a fix point in a culture is part of why this show still matters as much as it does. 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.'

Weiss acknowledged Alfonsi's departure in a memo to CBS News employees, stating that as part of Bilton’s appointment, the network was 'parting ways with Tanya Simon.' Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski wrote, 'Tanya has dedicated more than three decades to 60 Minutes, and she has served the institution with enormous care, professionalism, and devotion.'