Scott Pelley’s firing from 60 Minutes offers Hong Kong food for thought

Before Scott Pelley was fired from 60 Minutes last week, he accused CBS’s editor-in-chief of “murdering” the programme he had served for over two decades. For a show that once defined hard-edged journalism, his dismissal raises questions about what institutional independence means.The split followed a tense staff meeting in which Pelley confronted the show’s new executive producer. In a statement after his firing, Pelley said the organisation was becoming more policitised and tried to get him to inject bias into his work. Two other employees who were dismissed have also spoken of corporate and political pressure being felt in the newsroom – claims CBS denies.These concerns are not abstract; 60 Minutes covered the protests in Hong Kong in 2019, profiling Jimmy Lai Chee-ying as a global symbol of resistance to Beijing. The story was often framed as a straightforward struggle for democracy.