Yesterday, I wrote to you about Scott Pelley's courage in the face of CBS's capitulation and genuflection before the Trump administration. As a veteran journalist at CBS News, he stood up for the future of “60 Minutes” and rightly accused the company's new leadership of "murdering" the once-trusted institution.

Just hours after I hit send, Pelley was fired.

I wish I could say I was surprised by this outcome, but it is clear that under the Bari Weiss era, those with a moral compass, backbone and integrity are no longer welcome at CBS.

The irony is that Weiss and the brand of conservatism she claims to advance advertise themselves as champions of free speech who seek to protect heterodox ideas. In reality, this is just another example of right-wing hypocrisy — free speech for me, but not for thee.

It is worth taking seriously Pelley's claim that the goal of hiring Weiss to oversee CBS News was to have her destroy brands like “60 Minutes.”

At first glance, it might seem odd that David Ellison, the new owner of CBS's parent company Paramount, would want to "murder" not just the news division but also “60 Minutes” — the highly rated and profitable newsmagazine. In context, however, it makes perfect sense.

Donald Trump has wanted “60 Minutes” destroyed for years. Recall that Trump already extracted $16 million from CBS News through a baseless lawsuit claiming that “60 Minutes” had aired an interview with Kamala Harris that was edited in a way he did not like.

Ellison needed Trump's approval to clear the regulatory hurdles required to purchase Paramount. He wanted Paramount for its movie studios and entertainment properties. Appeasing Trump by killing “60 Minutes” and skewing CBS News's coverage is a small price to pay — as was firing Stephen Colbert, another thorn in Trump's thin skin.

Hiring an unqualified ideologue in Bari Weiss to oversee an 800-person news organization, and then allowing her to hire other unqualified men and women beneath her, is the perfect way to give Trump what he wants. CBS News will become both more compliant with Trump's wishes and less influential overall.

If the plan was to destroy CBS News through sheer incompetence, so far it is working.

In his statement following his firing, Pelley said the new leadership at CBS News told him "to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story." This, too, is no surprise.

Everywhere we turn, we see legacy media capitulating and betraying its obligation to tell the truth without fear or favor.

But that does not mean we are without options. Independent media is filling the void left by legacy media's retreat, and I am committed to Democracy Docket leading that effort.

When I launched Democracy Docket, I proudly announced its bias: being pro-democracy. That is it, and it will not change.

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Like many of you, I have fond memories of watching Pelley on “60 Minutes,” and I had the profound honor of seeing him in action during an interview in which he exposed Big Law's own capitulation. He held the line at CBS News for as long as he could. From one democracy defender to another, I thank him.

Democracy Docket will remain in the fight for democracy. We will continue to report the news with the integrity and honesty you can trust. And, alongside Scott Pelley, we will continue to fight for the day "when sanity, competence, and courage return."