Following their contentious 60 Minutes firings, Sharyn Alfonsi and Scott Pelley have found their next gig.
In June, both veteran journalists made headlines over their exits from the turmoil-ladden CBS, after clashing with its oft-criticized editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, whose dramatic overhaul of the network's news division has consistently raised eyebrows across the industry.
Now, both former CBS stars are giving back to the industry, having landed gigs at Columbia University's School of Journalism.
© Getty ImagesBoth Sharyn and Scott have been named journalists-in-residence at the esteemed school, a position that will be in place for the 2026-2027 academic term.
The former 60 Minutes correspondents will work with students through lectures, workshops and special events, and they will each contribute a piece to the Columbia Journalism Review.
In a statement, dean of the school Jelani Cobb shared: "We're both excited and honored to welcome two journalists of this caliber to our Journalist in Residence Program," adding: "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."
© Getty Images"Joining Columbia University as a Journalist in Residence is an extraordinary privilege, especially at a time when deep, rigorous and fearless reporting has never been more vital," Sharyn shared in a statement. "I'm excited to work with the next generation of journalists who are eager to ask the tough questions that hold power accountable."
"This is a critical time for a free press," Scott himself emphasized. "Columbia is leading the way in training the next generation of great journalists and I am honored to join Sharyn in that vital cause."
Neither Sharyn nor Scott made secret of their disdain for their former network's new direction, one many have described as right-ward, before and after their ousting. In a statement following his widely-reported clash with Bari's executive producer appointee Nick Bilton — who like her does not have any prior broadcasting experience — Scott, who joined CBS News in 1989, and 60 Minutes in 1999, said: "'60' has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories. When stewardship of the program passed to my colleagues and me, our responsibility was to expand energetically into a new age of media technology while preserving the values our audience expects."
© WireImage"Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration," he added, referring to Donald Trump ally and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, who was the one to appoint Bari, an opinion journalist and founder of The Free Press.
© Getty ImagesCalling the recent shift in CBS' approach to news "heartbreaking," he went on: "Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos," alleging that the new management "instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story" and to "include assertions that are unverified" into his stories.
"Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc," he emphasized, revealing a recent case in which the program "came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all" because of an issue with one of his stories.
