CBS fires veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley

A veteran correspondent for the long-running news program "60 Minutes" was fired last week following a tense confrontation with new management, an event that has ignited a public dispute over editorial independence and political influence at CBS News. Scott Pelley, a 37-year veteran of the network, was dismissed after an emergency meeting on Tuesday, June 2, according to an account he provided to The New York Times.

The conflict came to a head during an introductory meeting last Monday led by the program's newly installed executive producer, Nick Bilton. Pelley reportedly accused the network's editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, of "murdering the show" and questioned her and Bilton's qualifications. Shortly after that verbal confrontation, Pelley was fired. He said he was blindsided when CBS News president Tom Cibrowski abruptly ended the subsequent meeting. In a termination letter, Bilton wrote that Pelley's "antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear" and that his employment was terminated "for cause effective immediately."

Pelley's dismissal is part of a broader wave of personnel changes following Bilton's installment on May 28, which also included the...