On Monday night, the former executive producer of “60 Minutes” publicly expressed concerns regarding changes to the longstanding newsmagazine under its current executive producer and CBS News management.
Bill Owens, who previously led “60 Minutes,” criticized CBS News and its parent company, Paramount, for their interference with the program. Speaking at the New York Press Club awards ceremony, Owens warned against employing partisans and ideologues at CBS News and “60 Minutes.” His comments came amidst efforts by Bari Weiss, CBS News’ Editor in Chief, to revamp the program and appoint Nick Bilton, a former technology writer and documentarian, as the new leader.
In this process, Weiss and her team removed Owens’ successor, Tanya Simon, as well as the show’s executive editor, Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Owens, while accepting the Gabe Pressman Truth to Power Award, remarked that the senior leadership at “60 Minutes” was dismissed without explanation.
The attempt to revitalize the show is proving challenging. On Tuesday, “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley criticized Bilton and Weiss during a staff meeting, questioning their qualifications to lead the program and demanding answers for the dismissals of his colleagues. He accused Weiss of effectively “murdering” the show.
“They were dismissed by individuals unfamiliar with our work and indifferent to it,” Owens remarked.
Owens defended his former colleague for standing up for integrity, likening him to past “60 Minutes” correspondents like Ed Bradley, Mike Wallace, and Morley Safer. “Scott can detect insincerity from afar,” Owens said, highlighting Pelley’s outrage at the situation.
Weiss, a former opinion writer for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, left the former due to its sensitivity to social media critiques. At the time, she argued that stories were crafted to satisfy niche audiences rather than allowing the public to form their own conclusions.
After her departure, Weiss founded The Free Press, an opinion platform expressing “anti-woke” views, perceived as conservative, and favored by business leaders. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, who acquired The Free Press for $150 million, appointed Weiss as the head of editorial operations at CBS News last year.
Weiss has also been vocal about her pro-Israel stance, and Owens alleged that this perspective led to the resignation of several CBS News staffers who felt restricted in covering Middle East conflicts.
Owens pointed out that when Paramount took over, his colleagues at “60 Minutes” were promised the freedom to continue their news coverage as before, a promise he claims has not been fulfilled.
