New York — NEW YORK (AP) — “This is 60 Minutes,” Harry Reasoner announced on September 24, 1968, hosting his new CBS news show alongside fellow correspondent Mike Wallace. “It’s kind of a magazine for television.”
“We think this is kind of a new approach,” he added.
More than half a century and 58 seasons later, CBS News leader Barry Weiss uses the same term — “the new approach” — to explain the sweeping changes to the most popular news program in television history: firing the top producer and two correspondents, among others, and hiring a new president with no TV experience. Now, one of the show’s most famous faces, Scott Pelley, is also gone. He was fired after a tense confrontation with the leaders.
“We realize, of course, that new methods are not always immediately accepted,” Reasoner said that night in 1968. Weiss’s “new approach” has been met with harsh criticism from some corners. Moreover, the unrest became a major news story in its own right, with competing narratives circulating — none of which were attractive to CBS News.
The fundamental question that filters into Wednesday: Where does “60 Minutes” go from here? Can she stop being the story, get back to work and retain her reputation for investigative journalism and her legendary success at the top of the news food chain? Or is her famous timing, as some fear, literally running out?
For one prominent TV news analyst, it seemed Wednesday that something had already evaporated — perhaps just the long-held perception that 60 Minutes, which managed to be both old-school and pugnacious, was something essentially untouchable.
“My first reaction was that it started in 1968, which is not a bad period,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Blair Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “Because it really seems like this is systematically dismantling what (the show) was.”
But he quickly added: “I don’t think we’re writing a 60 Minutes obituary.” I think there is a lot of value and effort put into this brand.
However, he felt that there were worrying signs. The show suddenly down four reporters. Three of them, including Bailey, have been fired, and Anderson Cooper will leave his position of his own volition. There were also disturbing accusations made by Billy. “I have been ordered by the new administration to inject lies and bias into a politically sensitive story,” the reporter and former evening news anchor said in a statement Tuesday. “I have been asked to include unverified assertions.”
To Jeff Fager, former Executive producer of “60 Minutes” and author of a book about the show, the great loss will be the loss of Billy himself.
“I can’t imagine running 60 Minutes without Scott,” said Fager, author of “Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television’s Most Influential News Broadcast.”
“His work is the most remarkable in the history of broadcasting,” Fager said. “She’s stuck without him.”
A stunning week of public airing of dirty laundry continued on Wednesday with statements from Vice to staff about Bailey’s firing — and Bailey’s response to those remarks. In a transcript seen by The Associated Press, Weiss began a morning editorial call by saying she was “only interested in working in a newsroom built on trust and mutual respect.”
“That foundation was broken on Monday, and despite our attempts to reach out to Scott Pelley and find a way back, we unfortunately were unable to do so, and so we had to part ways,” Weiss said on the call. “We didn’t want this to happen, but this is the path he chose.”
In short order, Billy responded with a lengthy description of their meeting. “Barry Weiss knows what she said is not true,” he said. Statement published by New York Times media correspondent Ben Mullen. “At Tuesday’s meeting, in which I was effectively fired, there was no effort to find a way back.”
The disturbance was evident on the “60 Minutes” program. More than a year ago, After President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against the show Edited for 2024 interview With then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. He became part of a broader upheaval at CBS News after Weiss was He has been appointed to the new role of editor-in-chief was acquired by parent company Paramount late last year following the arrival of David Ellison as corporate leader of the network.
ellison company, Skydance, merged with CBS parent Paramountwhich later settled Trump’s lawsuit for $16 million, angering some on “60 Minutes” — and indirectly leading to… He left last month From popular CBS late night host Stephen Colbert, who called the settlement a “huge bribe.”
The show’s rift came into public view last Thursday, when Weiss and CBS News President Tom Cebrowski announced their changes aimed at “building a show that thrives in the 21st century.”
They hired Nick Bilton, a former technology columnist and documentary filmmaker, as executive producer, replacing Tanya Simon, who has worked on the show for 30 years and who had been in the top job for about a year. Reporters Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment about Trump administration deportees in a Salvadoran prison before he ran a month later, and Cecilia Vega were also let go.
Four days later, the staff meeting was on Monday morning I exploded in intensity When Billy confronted Pelton saying he had little relevant experience for the position. When Pelton told the meeting that “Barry loves this organization,” Bailey responded, according to the recordings, “She’s killing 60 Minutes.” She doesn’t like this place. She was brought in to kill her and she does just that.
This led Weiss, Pelton and others to summon Bailey to Tuesday’s meeting, after which he was fired. Weiss and Pelton did not respond to interview requests Wednesday.
However, reactions have spread throughout the media industry. “This is David Ellison’s 60 Minutes now,” CNN media critic Brian Stelter wrote. In his Wednesday newsletter.
So what does the future look like for the show? In her staff call on Wednesday, Weiss praised some of Peli’s work on “unforgettable stories” recently and promised Pelton would be bringing that kind of work “in Season 59 with the amazing team that’s still there, and hopefully coming from some new people who will be joining us.”
There has been no word about those additions. A much bigger question was whether, over time, the 60 Minutes chaos would prove more political in nature — Bailey and others accused the new leaders of trying to curry favor with the Trump administration — or more of a generational debate. Weiss and Pelton presented changes as necessary to evolve with the times.
Fager, among others, is concerned about this narrative. He said the show did a good job of adapting.
“It was not played in place, and this is a misunderstanding of the broadcast,” he said. “We adapted on a regular basis. Every time there was a new leader, there was a huge improvement.”
He acknowledged that some change and development is always necessary. But watching the “new approach” taken last week, he remains concerned about the future of the show overall.
“I’m worried about that,” he said. “I’ve always thought it was fragile, and I don’t take it for granted.”
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Jocelyn Novick covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.