The CBS broadcast 60 Minutes announced a new slate of correspondents and contributors on Tuesday that will help replace a group of longtime correspondents, including Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, who were fired this spring.
The most significant addition to the lineup, announced in a memo to employees from the executive producer, Nick Bilton, is the New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat, who is joining as a correspondent. Bilton called Douthat, who is leaving the Times, “a thinker of uncommon rigor and a journalist of deep empathy”.
The show is also adding three new contributors: the author and documentarian Sebastian Junger, film-maker Gianna Toboni and prominent UK journalist and political commentator Trevor Phillips, who was hired by CBS News as a global correspondent in June.
Bilton also announced that Norah O’Donnell, a “powerhouse” former network anchor who has served as a contributor to the show, had been promoted to the role of full-time correspondent.
“An exceptional lineup of journalists will be joining 60 Minutes, carrying on its tradition of fearless, independent and impartial reporting. I can’t wait for them to get started,” he wrote in the memo.
Praising Douthat, Junger, Toboni and Phillips, Bilton wrote that they were “entrepreneurial journalists who understand how to reach modern audiences. Between them they have written books and magazine articles, produced documentaries, TV shows and podcasts, hosted live events and built brands on independent platforms.”
Bilton’s announcement comes two months after the day known by some 60 Minutes staffers as “Black Thursday”, when the network ousted Vega, Alfonsi, executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich and multiple producers. Pelley was fired – “for cause” – the following week after challenging network management in a series of meetings.
But, the show’s leadership was able to retain the services of longtime correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim, who decided to “stay and fight” by remaining in their roles.
While the show’s staff largely takes off the month of July, Bilton said the show had “so many stellar pieces in the works” for the new season, which begins on 13 September.
Since leaving the network, Pelley, Alfonsi and Vega have all accused CBS News leadership of meddling with the show’s editorial independence, a charge the network has denied.
