The Murder

Scott Pelley hosted 60 Minutes for 13 years.

In that time, the show ran approximately 676 episodes covering war, financial fraud, pharmaceutical companies that did not behave well, and at least one interview in which a cabinet secretary was asked a question they found uncomfortable. Scott Pelley has won awards. He is, by professional consensus, an anchor.

Last Tuesday, Scott Pelley told CBS management that Bari Weiss was murdering his show.

CBS management responded by terminating his contract, effective immediately, and sending him a letter noting that his "antipathy has come through loud and clear."

I want to explain what happened here, because the sequence is important.

Scott Pelley identified the murder. He named the weapon (editorial philosophy), he named the victim (the show), and he named the murderer (Bari Weiss). This is, as detectives will tell you, the hard part. Most murders go unsolved for years. Pelley solved this one in real time, in a meeting.

CBS management reviewed the case. They agreed that something had been murdered.

They disagreed about the victim.

Scott Pelley filed 676 episodes of investigative journalism from that studio. He asked hard questions of people who preferred not to answer them. He treated the act of holding institutions accountable as a professional obligation. On Tuesday, he was the lead story.

60 Minutes airs Sunday. Scott Pelley will watch it from somewhere else.

The producers have not announced a moment of silence.