Seventy-eight liberal stories. Sixteen conservative ones. Over six full seasons of CBS's 60 Minutes, from September 2020 through September 2026, that's the tally. A 5-to-1 ratio of left-leaning segments to right-leaning ones.
And yet we're told media bias is a right-wing talking point.
The study cataloged every politically related segment across Seasons 53 through 58. Season 57 — the 2024/25 cycle covering the presidential election — was the worst offender, airing 20 liberal-tainted stories against just 3 conservative-leaning ones. The prior two seasons weren't much better: 9 liberal to 1 conservative in 2021/22, and 9-to-2 in 2022/23.
The most recent season, 2025/26, did inch toward something resembling balance — roughly 30 percent of politically related stories leaned conservative. New CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and executive producer Nick Bilton, who arrived after the network fired top on-air talent Sharyn Alfonsi, Scott Pelley, and Cecilia Vega in June 2026 are largely credited with trying to rebalance the liberal network's news coverage into something resembling balanced.
Those three names matter. According to the study, Pelley, Vega, and Alfonsi were collectively responsible for 75 percent of the liberal-slanted stories during the 2024 election cycle alone — 15 out of 20 in Season 57. Their body of work reads like a Democratic campaign brochure.
Pelley told viewers that "fear has silenced many in the department" during a segment on DOGE. He asked on air, "So, is it possible that 'Defunding the police' may help?" during a November 2021 police reform segment. He framed liberal election attorney Marc Elias as a defender of democracy, narrating that "Elias and others are warning that Trump's assault on the legal profession threatens the rule of law itself."
Vega opened a January 2026 Minneapolis ICE enforcement story by setting the scene: "By now, you have no doubt seen many of the scenes from Minneapolis. Immigration agents demanding proof of citizenship, even from some American citizens; protesters swarming as agents make arrests; the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer." In spring 2024, she asked Governor Greg Abbott on camera: "Do you believe Texas has the right to secede? Is that what we are talking about here?" She filed a segment on 200 men deported to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison in April 2025, framing it around claims of "torture."
Alfonsi contributed a December 2025 piece on the DeSantis-era flights of 50 migrants to Martha's Vineyard, telling the audience: "Tonight, you will hear about the investigation into those flights and why one sheriff says it was more than just a cruel political stunt. He says it was a crime."
The conservative-leaning segments? They existed, but you'd need a magnifying glass. Congressman Jim Jordan got one appearance. Governor Jeff Landry got one. The few stories that could be classified as right-leaning were mostly straightforward policy reports rather than the advocacy journalism that characterized the liberal segments.
Meanwhile, the show found time to describe Senator Angus King as "something akin to Atticus Finch on a Harley" and Liz Cheney as a "lone ranger" who was "daring to stand up to Mr. Trump." Pete Buttigieg got the "Rhodes scholar" treatment in March 2022. Norah O'Donnell introduced then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen by saying, "There are few people who understand this complicated moment better."
Bob Woodward sat in the 60 Minutes chair and was asked about reaching "an editorial conclusion" in his book — something "reporters are not supposed to do." His answer: "Yes. I say the President is the wrong man for the job." That aired as journalism.
The Weiss-Bilton era has shifted the numbers. Whether it holds is another question. But six seasons of data don't lie, and 78-to-16 isn't a rounding error or a matter of editorial judgment. It's a pattern so consistent it could only be intentional.
The 30 percent figure from the current season is progress. It also means that even after a public housecleaning, 60 Minutes still runs more liberal stories than conservative ones. Balance, apparently, is a journey.