The former executive producer of “60 Minutes” took a moment Monday night to issue a warning about what’s happening to the long-running newsmagazine under its latest executive producer — and the people who currently run CBS News,
“CBS News and ’60 Minutes’ are institutions, not places where partisans and ideologues should be employed,” said Bill Owens, who ended his time as the head of “60 Minutes” after seeing new efforts by CBS News parent Paramount to interfere with the show. Owens made his remarks at an awards ceremony held by the New York Press Club, and in the wake of efforts by Bari Weiss, CBS News’ Editor in Chief to overhaul the program and install Nick Bilton, a former technology writer and documentarian, as the show’s newest leader.
To do so, Weiss and her team ousted Owens’ successor, Tanya Simon, as well as the show’s executive editor, Draggan Mihailovich, along with correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. “The senior leadership at ’60 Minutes’ were all fired at once,” said Owens, accepting the Gabe Pressman Truth to Power Award. “There wasn’t any cause given.”
The decision to remake the show may not be one easily executed. On Tuesday, “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley lambasted Bilton and Weiss during a meeting of the newsmagazine’s staff. Pelley derided any qualifications either Weiss or Bilton had to manage the show, and demanded an explanation for why his colleagues were fired. And he accused Weiss of “murdering” the program.
