Bari Weiss poaches conservative NY Times columnist, others join '60 Minutes' in CBS program shakeup

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss poached one of her former New York Times colleagues as part of the network's major shakeup of "60 Minutes" ahead of its 59th season.

Newly minted "60 Minutes" executive producer Nick Bilton announced to staff Tuesday that conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat will be joining the program as a correspondent.

"He makes controversial topics approachable and renders characters and points of view with richness and compassion. Ross will bring this big and ranging curiosity to our air," Bilton told staffers in the memo obtained by Fox News Digital.

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New York Times Opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury addressed Douthat's departure from the paper after 17 years in a note to staff and thanked him "for arguing in good faith, for a year of doing it in a format that gave you nowhere to hide and for reminding all of us, on every side of every question, what a column is for. We are enormously grateful, and we will miss you." 

A spokesperson for the Times declined to comment further.

CBS News veteran Norah O'Donnell will also join "60 Minutes" as a correspondent, according to the Bilton memo.

"Norah has contributed exceptional pieces to the show for more than a dozen years, including interviews with Pope Francis, President Trump, President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman," Bilton said of the former "CBS Evening News" anchor.

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Additionally, Bilton announced a slew of "60 Minutes" contributors, including journalist and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger, former Vice News correspondent Gianna Toboni, who was previously tapped by CBS News as a national correspondent, and former Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips, whom CBS News recently hired as its senior global affairs correspondent.

"We couldn’t be more excited about this news. Please join us in welcoming these new colleagues," Weiss and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski told network staff.

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The announcement comes after a slew of firings from "60 Minutes," including its executive producer, Tanya Simon, as well as correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and Scott Pelley, fueling tensions within CBS News and sparking backlash from liberal critics. Veteran correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim remain with the program while Anderson Cooper announced his exit earlier this year.