The three remaining “60 Minutes” correspondents told colleagues Friday that they will stay with the embattled newsmagazine for one stark reason: “We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die.”
Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim wrote in a joint memo that they were “heartbroken” over the recent firings of their colleagues but had decided to return.
“We feared that our returning might be construed as an endorsement of the existing power structure. That is simply, categorically not the case,” the trio wrote.
The veteran correspondents also said that newly appointed executive producer Nick Bilton’s Thursday memo to staff “said all the right things.”
Bilton’s memo supported the three correspondents and sought to reassure them that he shares their values and vision. He also wrote that “it should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: We will never be instructed by the ownership of the company on those stories.”
