Starting in the business of journalism 50 years ago, I made a bucket list; one that grew and changed over the years. From a network London bureau posting to covering the White House, to anchoring a network broadcast. But one of those items has never changed: my desire to be good enough and work hard enough to become a 60 Minutes correspondent. The gold standard position of the gold standard broadcast at CBS News.
Believe it or not, I reached all but one of those goals. I came close; I was offered an entry-level position at 60 Minutes II, with promises that if I did well, I could be bumped to the actual 60 Minutes. Instead, I went to 20/20. So when I see what is happening to the Tiffany program at what was the Tiffany network, it makes me profoundly sad.
After all, CBS is where I started at Owned and Operated KCBS Radio. It’s where I emulated Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, and Dan Rather. CBS was the dominant news organization, and today little of that legacy lives. CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes are all that is left. And now CBS and its prospective owners threaten their status.
Rather than standing up to President Trump’s attempts to cajole and threaten, CBS management is negotiating a settlement in the lawsuit against it. A frivolous suit, according to First Amendment attorneys and journalism professors across the board, because Mr. Trump did not like the way a Kamala Harris interview was edited.
Press reports say it’s even more than that. Executives at the parent company are infringing on 60 Minutes’ legendary independence, looking over their shoulder at story selection and editorial content. From coverage of Gaza to Presidential politics, there is second-guessing. This is a first.
The show’s vaunted independence is being threatened. The reputation of 60 Minutes as an independent part of CBS is in jeopardy. The news magazine isn’t even in the same building as the rest of CBS, that is how independent it is.
When I went for my interview years ago, I went to the CBS main office on 57th Street and was pointed across the street to a suite of offices above the BMW dealer. Message received.
This week, Executive Producer Bill Owens — a respected journalist, even though he refused to hire me — resigned in protest. He objects to his corporate bosses looking over his shoulder. 60 Minutes has taken on presidents from LBJ to Nixon and now Trump. But CBS seems unwilling to allow that to continue. The corporation that owns CBS is trying to sell, and wants no complications. Also, this week, Lesley Stahl, the most veteran of 60 Minutes correspondents for CBS News, also objected to interference in the editorial process.
60 Minutes is not only prestigious, it is valuable. It often places not only at the top of news program ratings, it often ranks in the top 10 of all TV. A rarity in today’s shrinking viewership.
CBS should be protecting its most valuable asset, not jeopardizing it by forcing out its top producer and worrying its correspondents. After all, if I still had a bucket list today, 60 would still be on the top of it.
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Jim,
You are watching a different 60 Minutes than me. The hit piece they did on Destanis was far from the journalism you speak of. The editing of the Harris interview was far from the journalism you speak of. The supporting of the 51 intelligence officials who signed that lap top letter is far from the journalism you speak of. These are major breeches of the journalism you speak of and there is more. I miss the 60 Minutes you want to be a part of, but that ship has sailed. Perhaps someone holding them more accountable to do the journalism you speak of will help bring them back.
When I was a journalism student, more than 50 years ago, a professor told us that if we staked a career in the field, there might come a time when front office dictates conflict with one’s ethical compass. Depending upon how strong that conflict was, we’d have to make a decision: stay or leave. It appears Owens followed his compass.