00:02CBS News is dealing with a new round of internal drama after a heated staff meeting inside 60 Minutes turned
00:10into a very public fight over the show's future.
00:13The confrontation happened Monday during a staff meeting called to introduce Nick Bilton, the tech journalist recently hired to run
00:21the long-running news magazine.
00:23The meeting came just days after CBS removed executive producer Tanya Simon, along with correspondents Sharon Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega,
00:31as part of a major shakeup inside the program.
00:34According to reports from the New York Times and CNN, veteran correspondent Scott Pelley challenged Bilton's qualifications and the direction
00:42of the network under CBS News chief Barry Weiss.
00:45At one point, after Bilton said Weiss loved 60 Minutes, Pelley fired back that she was, quote, murdering 60 Minutes
00:52and had been brought in to kill it.
00:54New York Times first reported the exchange after obtaining a recording of the meeting.
00:59Bilton pushed back, telling staff he had no plans to turn the program into a social media product and promised
01:05that journalism would remain the priority.
01:07The dispute is the latest sign of a deep divide inside CBS News, as some staffers fear new leadership is
01:14changing the DNA of one of television's most successful news programs,
01:19while network executives argue the show must evolve to survive in a rapidly changing media environment.
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