The Dismantling of 60 Minutes Continues

The bleeding continues at CBS News, and once again, the damage is centered on the network’s crown jewel.

Longtime 60 Minutes producer Henry Schuster has officially exited the iconic newsmagazine after nearly two decades with the program. While a veteran producer moving on after 20 years might normally be celebrated with a quiet retirement toast, Schuster’s departure is being viewed internally as yet another major blow to a broadcast that is quickly becoming unrecognizable under the leadership of CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss.

In a candid message posted to LinkedIn, Schuster himself admitted that his exit was completely overshadowed by the current turmoil enveloping the network. Insiders say that the morale at the storied broadcast has hit rock bottom, and talent is looking for the nearest exit door before they get pushed out themselves.

Schuster’s departure comes just weeks after what CBS staffers are calling "Black Thursday"—a brutal day of layoffs where Weiss wielded the axe and fired 60 Minutes executive producer Tanya Simon along with top correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi. That bloodbath was followed by the high-profile firing of legendary anchor Scott Pelley, who reportedly confronted Weiss’s newly appointed executive producer Nick Bilton during a tense meeting and accused the new leadership of outright murdering the show.

Ever since billionaire David Ellison acquired Weiss’s digital media company and handed her the keys to the entire CBS News division despite her lack of broadcast experience, the network has been in a state of absolute chaos. From spiking investigative pieces on a whim to replacing veteran broadcast journalists with handpicked print columnists, the new regime seems determined to burn down the traditional institution in the name of modernization.

With every passing week, another seasoned journalist walks away or gets shown the door, leaving many to wonder how much longer 60 Minutes can maintain its hard-earned reputation when the very people who built it are being purged from the building.