Staff at CBS News' flagship news magazine, 60 Minutes, are voicing sharp discontent over network chief Bari Weiss' latest round of hires, with insiders saying they doubt the new additions belong on one of television's most storied broadcasts.

The most contentious pick is conservative New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat, who joins despite having no reporting background and minimal on-camera experience, according to Status.

Newly installed executive producer Nick Bilton praised Douthat in an internal memo as a rigorous thinker with deep empathy, a characterization industry insiders reportedly found laughable. The reaction underscores how closely the show’s staffing is being watched at a moment when CBS News is trying to reset its identity under new leadership, even as longtime broadcast veterans question whether those changes fit the standards associated with 60 Minutes.

“The idea that Ross can be a ‘60’ correspondent is a joke,” a veteran TV executive said.

According to the New York Post, insiders mock Bilton interviews as an excuse for him to air grievances about CBS, calling them “therapy sessions.” The Post also reported that Bilton has told people he is “assembling ‘The Avengers of news.’”

“We’re journalists,” one source said. “Not Marvel movie characters.”

Douthat is not the only addition raising eyebrows. Writer Sebastian Junger, former VICE correspondent Gianna Toboni, and ex-Sky News host Sir Trevor Phillips — who has faced past accusations of Islamophobia — round out the new roster of contributors and correspondents, alongside CBS veteran Norah O'Donnell's promotion to full correspondent.

Industry figures who spoke with Status compared the newcomers with former 60 Minutes and broadcast-news figures such as Mike Wallace, Diane Sawyer, Ed Bradley and Scott Pelley, concluding that the new hires would not have made the cut in that earlier era. The comparisons point to the scale of the personnel shift now underway at a program where prestige has long depended on a narrow sense of journalistic pedigree.

“These are the most coveted on-air jobs in TV news,” another news veteran said.

Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison installed Weiss, who lacked experience in broadcast news and once bragged about not owning a television, as CBS News editor-in-chief in October. Critics say CBS has shifted rightward since her arrival and has become reluctant to air material critical of the Trump administration.

Viewers have rejected the changes under her stewardship. CBS Evening News, anchored by Tony Dokoupil, is on pace to average just 3.8 million viewers in July, marking its fourth straight month below 4 million. CBS Mornings fared even worse, posting its lowest monthly average in the show's history at 1.6 million. That backdrop makes the internal backlash over 60 Minutes more than a personnel dispute, since the network is already confronting weakening audience numbers across its flagship morning and evening shows.

One CBS executive told Status that the overhaul has driven ratings to record lows, with little sign the 60 Minutes changes will reverse the trend.

CBS News has not yet responded to a request for comment.