Former ‘60 Minutes’ Correspondents Scott Pelley And Sharyn Alfonsi To Serve As Journalists In Residence At Columbia University

Scott Pelley and Sharyn Alfonsi, two of the 60 Minutes correspondents ousted in a shakeup at the top rated program in May, have new gigs: Journalists in residence at Columbia University. Pelley and Alfonsi will work with students via lectures, workshops and special events, and they will each contribute a piece to Columbia Journalism Review, the journalism school said on Monday. Jelani Cobb, the dean of the Columbia Journalism School, said in a statement, “Their distinguished track records in investigative reporting highlight the amazing opportunity our students will have to learn from them, and we look forward to having Sharyn and Scott with us this year.” Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were dropped from 60 Minutes in a shakeup in May that also saw the exit of execuitve producer Tanya Simon and other top producers. Alfonsi earlier protested the last-minute holding of one of her pieces on the notorious CECOT prison, and Vega has claimed that management has attempted to insert political bias into her stories. CBS News has denied Vega’s claim, and the CECOT prison story eventually did air in January, with a new introduction and postscript from Alfonsi. Watch on Deadline Pelley was fired after a clash with new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton. He also claimed interference, telling The New York Times that the management of the network “instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story.” A CBS News spokesperson said that what occurred was the normal back and forth of the editing process.