Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim say they’ll stay at ‘60 Minutes’ - BERITAJA

“60 Minutes” correspondents Leslie Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said Friday that they planned to enactment connected astatine the newsmagazine, capping days of turmoil for the show.

“We person had a difficult clip deciding whether to stay,” the 3 wrote successful a memo to their colleagues astatine the program, but yet added: “We don’t want to spot ‘60 Minutes’ die.”

They wrote that they were still “deeply upset by the firings” of executive shaper Tanya Simon and high-ranking shaper Draggan Mihailovich, whom they called “strong leaders who everyone respected.” Their workfellow Scott Pelley was fired earlier this week aft he challenged the newsmagazine’s caller executive shaper complete the caller firings.

The longtime correspondents said that “as acold arsenic we could tell,” those leaders were fired because “they fought for our ‘60 Minutes’ values and stood up to protect our independency and integrity.”

“Newsrooms are not expected to beryllium tally for illustration dictatorships,” they added successful the memo, obtained by Beritaja.

The connection is the latest hit successful the turmoil engulfing “60 Minutes,” America’s top-rated and about prestigious newsmagazine, which conscionable ended its 58th play

The upheaval started past week, erstwhile respective cardinal elder unit members were fto go. Tensions betwixt “60 Minutes” staffers and guidance reached an all-time precocious during a Monday gathering to present executive shaper Nick Bilton, wherever Pelley openly challenged activity and accused CBS News Editor successful Chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the storied newsmagazine that debuted successful 1968.

“She does not emotion this place,” Pelley told Bilton astatine the meeting, according to the recording. “She was brought successful to termination it, and she’s been doing precisely that.”

The adjacent day, Pelley was fired aft a about 40-year tally astatine CBS News. In a written statement, Pelley expressed “gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often astatine the consequence of their ain lives. I believe for a time erstwhile those group and their ideals are honored again —a time erstwhile sanity, competence, and courageousness return.”

In a Wednesday telephone pinch web employees, Weiss tried to temper fears and explicate the determination to occurrence Pelley, saying newsroom leaders could not “find a measurement back” pinch the seasoned journalist.

“I dream I speak, I cognize I speak for myself, and I dream I speak for everyone present erstwhile I opportunity that I’m only willing successful moving successful a newsroom that is built connected spot and communal respect. We cannot do our activity without it,” Weiss told CBS News labor Wednesday.

Shortly afterward, Pelley released his ain connection disputing Weiss’ characterization of the Tuesday meeting, saying that astatine nary constituent did anyone “suggest that location could beryllium steps taken by either broadside that would lead to a resolution.”

As antecedently reported by Beritaja, the turmoil wrong “60 Minutes” has near staffers grappling pinch questions about the program’s future.

On Thursday night, Bilton attempted to assuage those fears successful an emailed memo to the staff, penning that the storied show “will ne'er beryllium instructed by the ownership” of the web connected its reporting. In the memo obtained by Beritaja, Bilton wrote that he had spoken pinch Stahl, Wertheim, and Whitaker and stressed that they were “core to this show’s success.”

“We talked about what makes 60 Minutes exceptional, about the traditions and bequest of the past, about really you do the activity that produces specified momentous pieces. We besides talked about change: About caller audiences, caller platforms, and caller ways of storytelling that these caller audiences need,” Bilton wrote about his conversations pinch the three. “We’ll speak much about that successful the weeks to come.”