Former 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft is weighing in on the major shakeup of the flagship newsmagazine.
In a Wednesday interview with PBS News’ Geoff Bennett, Kroft was asked his thoughts on recent events, including Scott Pelley’s firing, the dismissal of EP Tanya Simon, and correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi also being let go.
“I think it’s been disastrous for the show, for the audience, which is not insubstantial,” he replied. “It’s been going on for a long time. It began, really, with an interview that Bill Whitaker had done with Kamala Harris in which CBS was sued for $17 million by the Trump administration for what they called an ‘illegal edit.’ The lawsuit had absolutely no merit, yet CBS, Paramount decided to settle the case for $17 million. And since then, it’s just been sort of one thing after another.”
Bennett also noted that recent shifts have arrived as Paramount is seeking approval by the Trump-backed FCC for its mega-merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. “I think that Paramount has just decided that was the only thing that was going to be important, and they were going to try and block anything that might get in the way of it,” Kroft said of getting the merger approved by the FCC.
