CBS News staffers are reportedly about to send a letter to Paramount CEO David Ellison demanding he “respect editorial values” — amid the massive recent shakeup at 60 Minutes.

Appearing on MS NOW’s The Weekend Primetime Sunday, Breaker Media founder Lachlan Cartwright reported that “distraught” CBS News staffers have penned the written appeal to the Paramount boss.

“As I was just coming on air tonight, guys, I was made aware from sources of a letter that has been put together that will go out tomorrow to David Ellison from CBS News staffers,” Cartwright said. “And just quoting from that, they are asking David Ellison to ‘respect editorial values and independent journalism.’ Now, that letter, there was a letter meant to go out last year. They decided at that point not to do it. But this letter is going to go out tomorrow to David Ellison from the staffers — because people I speak to within CBS are absolutely distraught about what is going on there.”

Cartwright referenced a conversation he had with retired 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft — in which Kroft chalked up the 60 Minutes overhaul to Ellison’s efforts to appeal to President Donald Trump.

“[Kroft] said to me, ‘While there’s no smoking gun. Trump’s DNA is all over this,'” Cartwright said. “And look, we do know — and this is from my reporting — I first broke the secret dinner that David Ellison was having for Trump to honor Trump and the Trump White House before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, in light of the other deal that’s meant to go through for Warner Brothers Discovery. What else do we know? We know that Donald Trump has always raged against 60 Minutes. He sued the show for $10 billion, which resulted in that settlement. And so you start having to sort of put these pieces of the puzzle together and really ask, why does this show need these very serious changes at this moment?

Correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi were let go from the venerable newsmagazine last week, as was executive producer Tanya Simon. Nick Bilton — a technology writer with limited TV news experience — was tapped to take over as 60 Minutes EP.

Watch above, via MS NOW.

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