Fired ’60 Minutes’ Correspondents Now Primed to Teach Next Gen Journos Exactly the Wrong Lessons

When looking over the myriad issues with our journalism complex, one inherent flaw is that our journalism schools serve as the source of heavily biased new-generation media figures. Those leftist hothouses such as Columbia University and NYU are regarded as the glowing wellsprings of upcoming journalists, and the problem now seems only to become exacerbated.

One of the bigger media stories this year has been the internal strife at CBS News, and in particular the upheaval caused at the esteemed news program 60 Minutes. That show delivered the melodrama by the gross in the first half of the year, as changes and turmoil were constantly made public, and ultimately it led to staff departures, both voluntary and compelled. The two prominent names involved were Scott Pelley and Sharyn Alfonsi, veteran investigative reporters who were let go following independent bouts of strife.

Months have passed since the tremorous departures, and as the ripples from that have dissipated, both figures have not been heard from much lately. But a new announcement has brought them back to public notice.

The Columbia Journalism School has sent out notice that both Pelley and Alfonsi will be serving in a leadership capacity in the new school year. They have been named as Journalists In Residence for the upcoming 2026-27 semesters on campus. These positions sound more than token appearances.

During their residency, Alfonsi and Pelley will work closely with students, individually and as a group, through lectures, workshops and special events designed to sharpen their reporting, investigative and sourcing skills. Their appointments give CJS students access to two journalists whose reporting has shaped the national conversation for decades.

Great; hands-on training from a pair with plenty of mud on their mitts. This does not deliver encouraging prospects of repairing what is wrong in our news complex. Rating for news outlets continue to shrivel, and media layoffs are such a regular occurrence people barely notice any longer. Multiple polls show public trust in the media is at historic lows. But addressing this by retraining those looking to enter the news landscape is not a consideration.

The Dean at Columbia Journalism School is Jelani Cobb, who hails from his days at The New Yorker, and has since elevated into the elite strata of academia. He once told Politico his intention at CJS was “to be a pipeline that helps make the [journalism] field itself more democratic.” Yet here he is bringing a pair of elitists from the industry to only entrench the practices that have delivered the contemporary problems.

Both Pelley and Alfonsi displayed this year traits that not only justified their dismissals but also defy the ethos that the elites in the industry usually espouse. Pelley spent much of the year before his release complaining loudly about his network and the management for the temerity to introduce accountability and responsibility in their reporting. His “How DARE you” peacocking displayed a journalist who felt he was above editorial oversight and that the “60 Minutes” program was to operate as an untouchable entity.

It is not as if Scott is a journalist free of past indiscretions. He misrepresented positions held by the Moms For Liberty founders in an interview, blamed Steve Scalise for being a shooting victim, and he was roundly mocked over his softball interview with the enfeebled President Biden, among other examples. He also has a past conflict with management leading to his firing from the CBS Evening News. 

By the time of his departure, it was clear that Scott Pelley felt his stature was preeminent over the reporting and the facts. He stood up in the face of his new superiors, and then expressed surprise when, after declaring the staff would not listen to their directives, he was told to pack up his desk. His affrontery was significant enough that a network president was the one who came in and handed the newsman his termination slip.

Alfonsi, a lesser-regarded name but another vet on the show, makes for an even more confounding choice to guide the fertile minds of over-eager up-and-coming reporters. Hers is a resume littered with examples of how not to perform the job. She was the source of the pandemic-era hit job on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that was roundly criticized. She deceptively edited a speech video to alter the governor’s messaging and avoided key facts and interviews with figures delivering contradictions to her narrative. The report was so bad it was all but debunked before the initial broadcast.

Last year, Alfonsi covered the efforts in Germany to clamp down on free expression, nodding along as officials explained why it would be necessary to jail those who expressed themselves in disapproved fashion. And then there was the soap opera concerning her December report on El Salvador’s CECOT prison and the U.S. immigration policy with that facility.

When still-fresh news director Bari Weiss had Alfonsi’s report held back from broadcast to be reworked, Sharyn went public with claims she was being censored. Weiss had asked for official word from administration officials to be included for contrast; that is, she was not silencing Alfonsi, she was asking for more to be added, not cutting out content. Then more egregious details emerged.

Sharyn had declared on the record that she had reached out to officials in the administration and never heard back. But later it was shown that no fewer than three different sources of the administration had issued statements to Alfonsi, and did so before the broadcast. That is blatant deception by the journalist, all while she was critical of her superiors for demanding she include those very components.

These are the power brokers in the press who will be guiding the next batch of aspiring journalists and media workers. They displayed corrupted examples of journalism and provoked justified firings this year, and now they are tabbed to lead the next batch of blank-slate minds in J-school.

Meaning – things are not expected to improve anytime soon in the news industry.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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