60 Minutes Reporter Rebukes CBS Owner on Air

The AP calls it "an unusual peek behind the scenes at the sort of inner turmoil that viewers seldom get the opportunity to see:" At the end of Sunday's episode of 60 Minutes, correspondent Scott Pelley paid tribute to Bill Owens, the executive producer who left the show last week amid an ongoing legal battle with President Trump. In doing so, Pelley said that corporate leaders are lately subjecting the show's journalists to more scrutiny.

• "Stories we've pursued for 57 years are often controversial—lately, the Israel-Gaza war and the Trump administration," said Pelley, per the Washington Post. "Bill made sure they were accurate and fair—he was tough that way. But our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires."

Neither CBS nor Paramount has immediately commented on what the Post calls a "rare rebuke" made on the air. Owens' resignation came as he was trying to keep CBS and Paramount from settling a lawsuit brought by Trump, who accused the show of deceptively editing an interview with Kamala Harris. Paramount, meanwhile, is negotiating with the Trump administration to get approval for a merger with David Ellison's Skydance Media, and Paramount execs see a settlement as a key step in that process. "No one here is happy about" Owens' departure, said Pelley. "But in resigning, Bill proved he was the right person to lead 60 Minutes all along."