A former managing editor of 60 Minutes, Guy Campanile, has criticized the show's new season under the leadership of CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. He said some segments have taken on a "tabloid-y" tone, which suggests a more sensational or gossip-like style. Campanile, who was let go in May along with several other staff members, including Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, also mentioned that anchor Anderson Cooper and correspondent Scott Pelley had left the program in May and June, respectively. Pelley reportedly was fired after accusing Weiss of "murdering" the flagship news program. Campanile told The Hollywood Reporter that the first two episodes of the new 59th season of 60 Minutes had not changed much from previous seasons, despite Weiss' call for a "new approach." He expressed confusion over the significant changes that were reportedly planned, noting that the broadcasts he had seen in the first few weeks did not look very different in terms of shape and form, although content may have changed. Campanile criticized a segment in the season premiere that featured an interview with a U.S. Air Force officer whose plane was shot down over Iran. While he found the interview appropriate, he argued that the report should have examined the broader course of the war. He questioned why the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were included in the story without addressing the conduct, arc, and status of the war. Campanile also took issue with a segment on Patrick Clancy, the ex-husband of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman who killed her three young children. During the interview, Patrick Clancy said he speaks to his dead children "all the time." Campanile suggested that while the story was high-interest, it lacked the depth expected from 60 Minutes and felt "a little tabloid-y." The 59th season of 60 Minutes premiered on September 13 with its smallest premiere audience in at least a quarter-century, according to Nielsen data cited by The New York Times. About 7.9 million viewers watched the season premiere, down from roughly 10 million for last year’s opener. The network stated that the season premiere was the week’s number one "non-sports primetime program" among adult viewers and that the show reached some 116.7 million video views across all social platforms. Weiss, who joined CBS News last October following Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount, has faced intense scrutiny over her leadership changes. Critics have accused her of pushing a pro-Israel agenda and shaping coverage to favor the Trump administration. Weiss has pushed back, telling The Wall Street Journal in June that what is being called "editorial interference" is in reality the job description of an editor in chief.