CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil took some time during the Wednesday, June 3 broadcast to pay tribute to Scott Pelley following the news that he was fired by the network.
“When I started at CBS, Scott Pelley was in this very chair, still doing a dozen stories a year for 60 Minutes,” Dokoupil said. “And amid all of that, meeting every new correspondent to share his view of the mission here.”
Dokoupil also spoke about Pelley’s beliefs as a journalist.
“He believed Freedom of the Press, to quote [James] Madison, was the right that guaranteed all the others and that the stakes are always that high,” Dokoupil added. “And that if you made it to CBS News, you were among the best in the world. He worked every single day to live up to that standard.”
The broadcast then showed clips from Pelley over the years on CBS Evening News.
Well, Scott, from all of us, thank you,” Dokoupil concluded.
Why Was Scott Pelley Fired?
On Tuesday, June 2, Pelley, a veteran 60 Minutes correspondent, was fired, with CBS saying he was “terminated for cause,” according to CNN.
This came after Pelley publicly criticized the new leadership in a meeting, where he called out executive producer Nick Bilton for firing numerous top producers and contributors on the program, including Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
In his letter to Pelley, Bilton said that he “hoped that in sitting down with you today we could find a path forward together,” but instead said Pelley “made clear that you are not interested in such a path.” Bilton then sent a message to the entire staff, addressing the news of Pelley’s firing.
However, Pelley then released a statement in which he got to tell his side of the story and say that the network and the show has “lost its DNA.”
“The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well,” Pelley wrote. “I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion—a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives.”
Rachel Maddow Wants Scott Pelley To Join MS Now
Rachel Maddow has also publicly voiced her support for Scott Pelley and said that she hopes he lands “right here,” referring to her network, MS Now.
“There’s nobody who is more acutely attuned to the value of a free press than those who are trying to take it away,” Maddow said. “There’s nothing else going on at CBS News other than what we can see is happening at CBS News. And I don’t know where Scott Pelley will land. Frankly, I hope he lands right here.”
“I hope he’s on TV tomorrow,” she added. “And I hope that everybody in journalism and everybody who values a free press figures out ways to outmaneuver the people who are trying to take the free press from us. But it is a fully joined fight at this point. And there’s no, I just don’t think there’s any pretense that anything else was happening here.”
