‘Very much fear what comes next’

60 Minutes and CBS in general has made headlines over the past year due to a slate of shake-ups among both top brass and the on-air team.

Many of these have drawn controversy, particularly because of the scathing remarks that the exiting journalists have shared in their wake, with the latest coming from correspondent Cecilia Vega.

The 49-year-old joined the news magazine program in March 2023, becoming the first Latina correspondent in 60 Minutes history. She previously worked with ABC News from 2011 to 2023, acting as their Chief White House correspondent and occasional sub anchor on Good Morning America.

In her statement shared on social media, Cecilia shared that her contract was apparently supposed to go until March 2027, but she was cut from the show a full 10 months early, presumably due to “political bias.”

“I was fired today,” she began. “My contract as a correspondent for 60 Minutes was not set to expire until March 2027. I have the utmost respect and admiration for my colleagues at 60 Minutes and the stories that air every Sunday. But I very much fear what comes next for the future of the legendary broadcast.”

Expanding upon the recent controversies, she continued: “In recent months, my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories. Reporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of the internal repercussions.”

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“Let’s call this what it is: censorship, both imposed and self-driven. It is dangerous for the show and dangerous for democracy,” Cecilia added. “I held the line and refused to incorporate suggestions that offend the conscience, a phrase I borrow from a colleague who has also fought to keep questionable editorial suggestions away from the facts.”

“I know from many conversations with colleagues that many producing teams and correspondents working on the show today have had to fight to maintain editorial independence with regularity. I am far from the only 60 Minutes correspondent who has asked herself, ‘What is my personal red line? How much can I push back before I pay the price?'”

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Looking back on her experience with the show, Cecilia gushed: “This season alone I was part of teams that won two of the highest honors in our profession – a George Polk award and a duPont-Columbia award for our coverage of Venezuelan migrants sent by the Trump administration to El Salvador’s Cecot prison,” while also remarking on making history as “the first Latina correspondent to ever be on 60 Minutes.”

She concluded with: “Today I lost an amazing job. But I still have my integrity. To my former colleagues, continue to hold the line,” signing off with “la lucha sigue,” which translates to “the struggle continues.”

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Cecilia later took to her Instagram Stories with a message that read: “Thank you for the love today. But mostly – to every single person who immediately texted to say ‘we ride at dawn’ – and there were many – man are you proof that I have succeeded at life. You are my people. See you at dawn.”