by David Blum
Note on Sources
This narrative account of the history of 60 Minutes incorporates more than 100 in-person interviews with present and former producers, correspondents, support personnel, and executives connected with the broadcast, as well as others who worked alongside Don Hewitt at CBS in the years that preceded its premiere in 1968. I depended—for my narrative almost exclusively—on first-hand accounts provided to me by producers, executives, camera operators, editors, researchers, and secretaries associated with 60 Minutes. I also had the good fortune to interview every living correspondent of 60 Minutes, including Diane Sawyer and Meredith Vieira. All except Lesley Stahl agreed to meet me for an in-person interview, and most of the current team of correspondents met with me several times over two years for lengthy interviews.
I gathered extensive recollections from Andy Rooney, Walter Cronkite, Arthur Bloom (the show’s original director), Sandy Socolow (a former CBS Evening News executive producer and colleague of Hewitt’s), Gordon Manning (a former CBS News executive who worked with Hewitt, and who later became president of NBC News), Av Westin (a young CBS News producer in the 1960s, later executive producer of ABC’s competing show, 20/20), Bob Chandler (the first CBS News executive in charge of 60 Minutes, and a close adviser in the planning stages), Joseph Wershba (one of the show’s first producers, and producer of the legendary Edward R. Murrow See It Now broadcast about Sen. Joseph McCarthy), Barry Lando (Mike Wallace’s former star producer, now living in Paris), and Lowell Bergman (Mike Wallace’s former star producer, now living in Berkeley).
I also benefited from extended interviews with the current and former leadership team of 60 Minutes. I had several long sessions with Hewitt, almost all in his office at 60 Minutes or in his screening room. They tended to be exasperating experiences. Hewitt has lived the last half-century as a first-hand observer of television history, but he chooses to remember only selective moments from his own thrilling past—and to repeat those moments incessantly to visitors who’ve heard them dozens of times. Hewitt has his endearing qualities, but one of them is not the gift of introspection. I was fortunate to meet several times with his lieutenant, Josh Howard, and with his immediate CBS News boss, Betsy West. Jeffrey Fager, and his deputy, Patti Hassler, both spoke to me at length and with remarkable candor about their recollections. I also received regular historical perspective provided by Phil Scheffler, who’d worked at 60 Minutes off and on from the beginning, and who’d been Hewitt’s number-two for more than two decades. Andrew Heyward met with me for several hours over two years to share details of his experiences with 60 Minutes.
To confirm facts and to draw on the occasional historical detail, I also used several books, articles, and memoirs that chronicled various parts of the show’s history from a first-hand point of view. Tell Me a Story by Don Hewitt (Public Affairs; 2002) proved an invaluable resource, in particular the chapters concerning Hewitt’s early years, as did his earlier memoir, Minute by Minute (Random House; 1985). In cases where Hewitt’s verbal retelling of his life story differed from his written account, I’ve chosen his memoir as the definitive version. In cases where the two memoirs offered differing accounts, I’ve used his 2002 memoir as the definitive source, except as noted in the text. Thus the facts and dialogue used in the telling of several key anecdotes in Hewitt’s early life depend heavily on his published account—in particular, details of his upbringing, the blackboard discovery at the 1952 convention that led to the creation of the super, the near-theft of the NBC truck in Iowa during the Khrushchev visit to an Iowa farm in 1959, and his dealings with Dan Rather concerning Abraham Zapruder on November 22, 1963. I have also used the books as a reference for key facts and dates from his early years as a journalist, and as a factual backup on later incidents at 60 Minutes.
Similarly, Mike Wallace’s memoir, Close Encounters (William Morrow; 1984) offers a detailed account of several important moments in Wallace’s life, as recalled with the help of his collaborator, Gary Paul Gates. I have used his written recollections as a source on his early years in broadcasting, the death of his son Peter, and his journey through television news to the staff of 60 Minutes. Lesley Stahl’s memoir, Reporting Live (Simon & Schuster; 1999), provided the factual basis for my narrative of her pre–60 Minutes life, as well as the discussion of her relationship with her mother. Dan Rather’s memoirs (written with collaborator Mickey Herskowitz) were valuable chronicles of key moments in his career: The Camera Never Blinks (William Morrow; 1977) and The Camera Never Blinks Twice (William Morrow; 1994). The former covered details of Rather’s early life and career, in particular his conflicts with Richard Nixon and his early years at CBS, and the latter included a detailed account of his 1980 Afghanistan piece for 60 Minutes that contributed information to my narrative. Before the Colors Fade, by Harry Reasoner (Alfred A. Knopf; 1981) proved a valuable account of Reasoner’s career at CBS and 60 Minutes.
Two important, independent histories of CBS News helped to establish the context of Hewitt’s rise and that of 60 Minutes: Air Time: The Inside Story of CBS News by Gary Paul Gates (Harper & Row; 1978) and Who Killed CBS?: The Undoing of America’s Number One News Network by Peter J. Boyer (Random House; 1988). The memoir of deceased CBS News president William Leonard, In the Storm of the Eye: A Lifetime at CBS (Putnam; 1987), included detail and dialogue contained in the account of Walter Cronkite’s departure as anchorman, and his replacement by Dan Rather, as well as Leonard’s version of the start-up of 60 Minutes. A CBS-approved history of 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes: 25 Years of Television’s Finest Hour (General Publishing Group; 1993), was a handy resource for facts and details.
Also helpful were The Decade That Shaped Television News: CBS in the 1950s, by CBS News president Sig Mickelson (Praeger; 1998), and Salant, CBS and the Battle for the Soul of Broadcast Journalism: The Memoirs of Richard S. Salant, edited by Susan and Bill Buzanberg (Westview Press; 1999). I also owe a considerable debt to the reporting of Elsa Walsh, whose thorough analysis of Meredith Vieira’s struggles at 60 Minutes were included in her fascinating book, Divided Lives: The Public and Private Struggles of 3 Accomplished Women (Simon & Schuster; 1995). I also depended on We’re Going to Make You a Star, by Sally Quinn (Simon & Schuster; 1975) for Quinn’s account of her sexual-harassment by Hewitt.
The television beat reporters and critics from the New York Times from the 1950s through 2004—Jack Gould, John O’Connor, Peter J. Boyer, Peter Kaplan, Jeremy Gerard, Tony Schwartz, Sally Bedell Smith, Lawrie Mifflin, Jim Rutenberg, and Bill Carter—provided a contemporaneous and valuable record of many significant events in 60 Minutes history. A January 1978 profile of 60 Minutes in Rolling Stone by Donovan Moore offered useful perspective, as did Harry Stein’s look at the show in May 1979 for the New York Times Magazine. Mark Hertsgaard’s insightful May 1991 Rolling Stone article, “The Sixty-Minute Man,” proved particularly helpful, as did Susan Steinberg’s informative 1998 American Masters documentary, “90 Minutes on 60 Minutes.” “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” by Marie Brenner in the May 1996 Vanity Fair, offered a comprehensive account of the Wigand controversy. Of additional help were “Fast & Flawed,” Howard Kurtz’s account of Ed Bradley’s interview with Kathleen Willey in the August 1998 Brill’s Content, and “Real to Reel,” D. M. Osborne’s report on the 60 Minutes—Jeffrey Wigand controversy in the July/August 1999 Brill’s Content.
The new afterword incorporates some material drawn from testimony in the January 5, 2005, “Report of the Independent Review Panel.” That three-month independent investigation (by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, retired Associated Press editor Louis D. Boccardi, and a team of Washington lawyers) was paid for by CBS, and purports to be a thorough record of the events surrounding the September 8, 2004, “For the Record” story on 60 Minutes Wednesday about President Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service, produced by Mary Mapes and reported by Dan Rather.
Index
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ABC News, 50–51, 113–14, 118, 128, 136–37, 153, 175–77, 206, 208, 221, 241
Abercrombie & Fitch story, 275
access rule, FCC, 83
Afghanistan story, 129–33
afternoon talk shows, 145–46
age
of audience, 206, 218, 236, 274–75
of correspondents, 235–36
Don Hewitt’s, 243, 245–46
Agnew, Spiro, 63
AIDS, 180, 182, 185–86
Ailes, Roger, 243
Air Time (book), 294
Alexander, Shana, 123–24
Allied Chemical story, 94–96
Amanpour, Christiane, 218, 230
ambush interviews, 32–33, 77–82. See also hidden-camera stories
“anchorman” term, 14
Anders, William, 102–5
Anderson, Robert, 186
Andrea Doria sinking story, 17
anthrax story, 40
anti-busing story, 57–60
Arledge, Roone, 114, 128, 175, 178
Atkinson, Brooks, 32
audience age, 206, 218, 236, 274–75
Aykroyd, Dan, 123–24
Barfield, Velma, 161
Barzini, Luigi, 37
Bass, Saul, 38, 47
Beard, Dita, 63–64
Beatty, Warren, 160
Before the Colors Fade (book), 294
Bellows, James G., 153
Benjamin, Burton, 149
Bennett, Bob, 225–26
Bergen, Candice, 227–28
Berger, Marilyn, 117, 120
Bergman, Ingrid, 144–45
Bergman, Lowell, 189, 206–15
Bettag, Tom, 216
Better Government Association, 107–11
Bingham, Wade, 133–36
biological weapons story, 40
blackboard idea, 13–14
Black Panther Party story, 49
Blanchet, Patricia, 257
Bloom, Arthur, 42
Blue Sheet proposals, 56, 115
“Book, The,” 42
Boyd, Gerald, 253
Boyer, Peter, 156, 168, 294, 295
Bradlee, Ben, 57, 74
Bradley, Bill, 218
Bradley, Ed
age of, 236
background of, 125–27
conflicts and, 138–39, 169, 211–12
health of, 255, 266, 271, 290
Don Hewitt and, 2, 5, 242, 273
Anita Hill story, 201–3
Lena Horne story, 139–40
Michael Jackson story, 280–89
Trevor Nelson and, 261
salary of, 205, 237
Phil Scheffler and, 255–57
stories of, 189, 229–30, 273, 275
Kathleen Willey story, 77, 221–27
braille, Don Hewitt’s ideas about, 12
Brenner, Marie, 214, 295
Brinkley, David, 15, 18, 22, 44
Brodsky, Joseph, 141
Brooks, James L., 152
Broun, Heywood Hale, 46
Brown & Williamson story, 206–15
Brynner, Yul, 11
Buchwald, Art, 37
Buffett, Warren, 229
Burke, David, 177–78, 179, 182–83
Bush, Laura, 230
busing story, 57–60
Buzanberg, Susan and Bill, 295
Calendar (show), 34
Calley, William, Jr., 48
Camera Never Blinks, The (book), 294
Camera Never Blinks Twice, The (book), 129, 294
cameras
close-up, 20–21, 66–67
film, 23, 44
hidden, 107–11, 133–36, 186–87
reverse-angle shots, 71, 152–53
Carson, Johnny, 121–22
Carter, Bill, 209–10, 295
Carter, Graydon, 270
Carter, Jimmy, 126
Carville, James, 198, 250
Casablanca (movie) story, 143–45
Casa Verdi story, 171
catholicism, Kennedy’s, 19–20
CBS News. See 60 Minutes
CBS Morning News, 34, 74, 156
CBS Evening News, 18–24, 34, 85–87, 145, 180, 216–17, 232–33
CBS Reports, 87, 115, 126–27, 133, 147–49
censorship of tobacco industry story, 206–15, 259
Don Hewitt’s first jobs at, 10–14
Don Hewitt’s firings by, 1–6, 24–26, 234–52, 290–92
Don Hewitt’s idea to buy, 167–68
Michael Jackson agreement, 281
junket story and, 79
lawsuits against, 65, 149, 151–53, 163–64
mandatory retirement exemptions, 149
network competition and, 15–17, 23–24, 34, 145–46 (see also ratings)
newsmagazine shows, 206
payments for interviews, 80–82
Andy Rooney’s suspension, 182–83
sexual harassment and, 76–77
strike against, 172–73
takeover of 60 Minutes for Iraq War coverage, 231–33
Chandler, Bob, 29
Charlie Rose (show), 211
Cheney, Dick, 262
Chernobyl story, 185
Childers, Frankie Teague, 25, 73
child pornography story, 134–35
children, Vieira and, 178, 188–92
children’s shows, 83–84, 111
Chung, Connie, 206, 217
“chyron” technique, 13–14
Claiborne, Craig, 43
Clark, Ramsey, 37
Clarke, Richard, 290
Cleaver, Eldridge, 49
Clinton, Bill, 2, 77, 197–200, 221–27, 249–50, 291
Clinton, Hillary, 198–200
clock ticking sound, 42
Close Encounters (book), 30, 81, 149, 294
close-up camera technique, 20–21, 66–67
Cobb, Buff, 31–32
Cohen, Richard, 191
Cohn-Bendit, Daniel, 46
Collingwood, Charles, 149
Collins, Marva, 122–23
Collyer, Ellen, 102–3
Colson, Charles, 80
commercials, 112, 119, 175, 274
competition
between correspondents (see conflicts)
network, 15–17, 23–24, 34, 145–46
Sunday-night time slot, 153–54, 206
conflicts
correspondents and, 115–17, 138–39, 141–43
Don Hewitt and, 2, 53, 55, 115, 139, 142–43
Don Hewitt and Mike Wallace, 2–3, 5–6, 53, 55–56, 113, 147, 164, 212–14, 258–60, 275–77, 290–92
over producers, 138–39, 142, 169–70, 180
Dan Rather and, 87, 116
Harry Reasoner and, 115
Morley Safer and, 53–55, 116–17
Mike Wallace and, 53–55, 115–17
confrontational journalism, 32–33, 77–82. See also hidden-camera stories
conventions, political. See political conventions
Coolidge, Priscilla, 127
correspondents. See also Bradley, Ed; Kroft, Steve; Rather, Dan; Reasoner, Harry; Rooney, Andy; Safer, Morley; Sawyer, Diane; Stahl, Lesley; Vieira, Meredith; Wallace, Mike
competition between (see conflicts)
Phil Scheffler’s firing and, 238–39
Don Hewitt’s firing and, 1–6, 237–38
producers and, 39, 45, 56 (see also producers)
salaries of (see salaries)
as stars, 45, 70–71, 111, 120, 175–76, 187
Corry, John, 166
Costas, Bob, 164
costs, 39, 50, 83–84, 119, 175, 249
Cotton, Debra, 158–59
Crandall, John, 98
credit, producers and, 71–72
Crile, George, 147–49, 192
criticism
Afghanistan story, 132–33
first 60 Minutes seasons, 39, 48
Susan Molina
ri, 218–19
news-gathering techniques, 105–6, 111, 137
payment for stories, 80–82, 91–94
racist comments, 146–47, 181–83
Point-Counterpoint segment, 250
60 Minutes II, 241
of Mike Wallace, 33
West 57th, 166
Who’s Who, 113
Kathleen Willey story, 226
Cronkite, Walter, 9–10, 12, 14, 18–24, 27, 79, 86, 127–28, 182
Crouch, Stanley, 218
Curtin, Jane, 123–24
Dateline NBC (show), 206, 217–19
Davis, Suzanne, 5
Day, Lorraine, 180
Day One (show), 208
Dean, John, 81
debates, Kennedy-Nixon, 20–21
Decade That Shaped Television News, The (book), 295
Delaney, Geraldene, 108
Democratic Party. See political conventions
demographics, 206, 236, 274
Denmark, David, 186
depression, Mike Wallace’s, 111–12, 163–65
Devine, Frank, 198
Dickinson, Angie, 34
Diekhaus, Grace, 227–28
Divided Lives (book), 178, 295
Dobyns, Lloyd, 153–54
Dole, Bob, 198, 249–50
Donahue, Phil, 145
Douglas Edwards and the News (show), 11, 15–18
Dowd, Maureen, 218–19
Downs, Hugh, 114
draft resisters story, 47, 60–61
Duff, Gertrude, 60–61
Duke and Duchess of Windsor, 46
Dumbrow, Walter, 107–11
Edwards, Douglas, 11–12, 15–18, 258
Ehrlichman, John, 66–67, 86
Ellerbee, Linda, 190
Elliott, Osborn, 272
Ellsberg, Daniel, 80
Emmy Awards, 53, 83, 177, 262, 266–68
entertainment, news as, 23, 28–29, 33
entrapment issue, 97–111
“evergreen” stories, 44
Eye to Eye with Connie Chung (show), 206, 217
Fager, Jeffrey
on correspondents and Reasoner, 192
as Don Hewitt’s successor, 3, 234, 241, 243, 246–47, 250–52, 278, 291
on Michael Jackson story, 289
Steve Kroft and, 180–81