"MS NOW" host Rachel Maddow issued an impromptu plea to reporters across the country on Tuesday after reacting live on air to the news that Scott Pelley, the veteran CBS News anchor of "60 Minutes," has been fired and Nick Bilton has been named executive producer.
«"I hope that everyone in journalism and everyone who values press freedom will find ways to outsmart those who are trying to take that freedom away from us," Maddow said of the network's controversial leadership. "But at this point, it's a collective fight.".
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CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss last week all but destroyed the remnants of the "60 Minutes" program she took over last year, firing executive producer Tanya Simon, who had been with CBS News since 1996, and replacing her with Bilton, a technology journalist.
«"He was simply appointed there as part of a blatant, Hungarian-style oligarchic takeover of this news organization," Maddow said on air Tuesday, adding that the "imbalance in journalistic experience" between Bilton and Pelley was "remarkable.".
Bilton fired Pelley after a bitter dispute, claiming in a firing email read by Maddow that Pelley refused to "find a way forward together" and chose to "ambush" Bilton with criticism during his first meeting as the new executive producer.
Maddow continued, addressing what many critics see as a key problem with the current era of CBS News.
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«"Also, on the topic of press freedom: I joked when I called the Scott Pelley news a kind of Hungarian, oligarchic takeover of the media," the MS NOW host explained. "And I mean that jokingly, but I'm also completely serious.".
You can watch Maddow's reaction live below:
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Maddow noted that no one understands the value of a free press "more than those who are trying to take it away," arguing that President Donald Trump has deliberately chosen to "use the power of the state to get the media he wants" and has tasked his "oligarchic friends" with doing so.
«"It's just—again, there's no pretense here," she said. "It's not like this is happening for any other reason. There's nothing else going on at CBS News other than what we're seeing. And I don't know where Scott Pelley will end up. Frankly, I hope he ends up here.".
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On Wednesday, Pelley commented on his firing on social media, claiming that "new management" ordered him to introduce unspecified "falsehoods and bias" into his work, which he refused to do, and that politicians are now "asked to choose their correspondents" for their interviews.
Pelley added that "this is not how honest journalism should be conducted.".
Last year, CBS News was acquired by billionaire David Ellison, the son of close Trump ally Larry Ellison, following the controversial $8 billion merger of his company Skydance Media and CBS News' former parent company, Paramount Global.
Last week, former "60 Minutes" correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi announced that CBS News does not plan to renew her recently expired contract. Alfonsi clashed with Weiss last year when her story about Venezuelan migrants being sent to brutal Salvadoran prisons was pulled from the air.
Connected…
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Scott Pelley reportedly criticized CBS executives at a meeting following the "60 Minutes" firings.
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Former "60 Minutes" producer Scott Pelley says he can "smell a scam a mile away.".
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CBS News fired Scott Pelley after he accused Bari Weiss of "killing" the network.
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