CBS News is getting employees hyped about the first full season of “60 Minutes” under top editor Bari Weiss, months after a string of high-profile exits.
“We don’t often send notes to the whole newsroom. But today calls for it. It’s a big moment for 60 Minutes and CBS,” newsroom leaders, including Weiss, wrote about the new “60 Minutes” season in a memo sent to staffers on Sunday.
The memo teases an interview — that “everyone has been chasing” — with a US Air Force officer who was rescued from Iran in April.
The 59th season of “60 Minutes” will have 10 regular contributors, including five correspondents: Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Jon Wertheim, Norah O’Donnell, and Ross Douthat, who joined CBS from The New York Times in July.
“60 Minutes” is kicking off its highly anticipated season following a turbulent early-summer stretch for the storied news program.
Lead producer Nick Bilton, who was handpicked by Weiss in May, started his tenure by firing longtime correspondent Scott Pelley after a noisy confrontation in front of “60 Minutes” staffers.
Pelley had publicly questioned Bilton’s qualifications, pressed his new boss on why fellow correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi were let go, and accused Weiss of “murdering” the iconic Sunday night telecast while trying to “kill” CBS News.
Weiss later addressed the firing, telling staffers she’s “only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect.” Bilton told “60 Minutes” employees that his first week had been “a trying and difficult few days.”
Veteran correspondents Whitaker, Wertheim, and Stahl — who’s been with “60” since 1991 — decided to return to the program, saying that they “don’t want to see 60 Minutes die.” They said they’re “working to build trust” with Bilton and “heard all the right things” in his memo.
“If we can continue doing the work that made this show what it is — committing acts of independent, fearless journalism and storytelling — we’re here for it. If not, we leave,” Stahl, Whitaker, and Wertheim wrote in their memo.
Read the full memo sent to CBS News staffers here:
Read the original article on Business Insider
The post Read the memo: CBS News leadership is selling staffers on ’60 Minutes’ as it relaunches under Bari Weiss appeared first on Business Insider.
