There have been few television correspondents who could tell a story the way Bob Simon did. His curiosity, intelligence and sense of adventure would take him from his native Bronx, New York, to Brandeis University, and on to the front lines of history.
CBS News hired young Bob Simon, a Fulbright Scholar, for its assignment desk in 1967. He would soon be assigned to cover stories the more veteran reporters did not want to cover. Four decades later he would recall, in a 2013 interview for the Archive of American Television, "Knowing what to do was simple--tell a story."
CBS News moved him to its London bureau, and from there he was assigned to cover the Vietnam War. Working with legendary cameramen like Norman Lloyd and David Green, he excelled as a war correspondent. "It is the biggest adrenalin rush there is," he reflected, "there is no other experience that matches it."
Simon had an amazing ability to let the pictures carry the story while complementing the scenes with just the right words. He remembered being there when a young Vietnamese girl was running naked down a road away from a burning village. "What do you say? Where it is, her name, and that there are American fighter jets."
Simon had several tours of duty in Vietnam. He was there at the end. He recalled that the U.S. had alerted Americans that, "When the military radio played I'm dreaming of White Christmas it would be the cue to get your asses to the embassy." Simon said when the order came it was chaos, and climbing over the embassy wall was a problem because U.S. Marines were driving people back. "You had to have round eyes that day," he recalled.
Simon became the most acclaimed network Middle East correspondent while assigned to the CBS News Tel Aviv bureau. He would always push the borders of coverage, and he could beautifully capture its complexity. "Rivers make the best borders," he wrote. "Even though Jordan is little more than a lively brook at the level of the Allenby bridge, even though the two banks -- lush vegetation trailing up to mad lunarscapes -- are mirror images of each other, crossing over from Israeli territory to Jordan, always carries a sense of transition of the forbidden, of moving between enemy camps."
Simon would test those borders during the first Gulf War when he and his crew walked to the top of a sand dune near Al-Ruqi, an inland border post between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. They were captured by the Iraqi military and held, beaten, starved and interrogated for forty days. The Iraqis accused them of being spies.
"'Name? Rank?' a voice shouted," Simon wrote in his riveting account of captivity in his 1992 book Forty Days. "I'm not military, " Simon responded. "Our sources tell us you have good relations with the government of Israel," the interrogator said. "That's it, I thought," Simon wrote. "The game is up. I found this realization calming in a way...It was all over, but I would go on playing for a while." Simon and his crew would be freed after 40 days, but they were all deeply affected by the ordeal.
Simon would return to work. He had visited 67 different countries as a foreign correspondent. He was known among his producer colleagues for screening every inch of footage before writing his story, and then memorably capturing a scene in a few words. For instance, Simon covered Hong Kong's transition from British rule to China in 1997. He spotted footage of an old Chinese man doing his Tai Chi exercise in the early morning. It would be his opening scene. "The debts of history are coming due," he would write.
He became a full-time correspondent on 60 Minutes in 2005, but he had already filed several important pieces for the broadcast. Before the U.S. went to war with Iraq in 2003, Simon would remember, "I knew from my sources, and from the Israelis...and whatever you think of the Israeli's, they have great intelligence, that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." He continued, "We couldn't say that...so we did a story, called 'The Selling of a War,' and the piece got a lot of attention...but (President) Bush invaded Iraq anyway."
Simon collected 27 Emmy Awards and four Peabody Awards over nearly 50 years of brilliant journalism. It is shocking that, after covering war zones from Vietnam to the Middle East, and violent uprisings from Northern Ireland to Tiananmen Square, his life ended in the back seat of a town car on New York City's West Side Highway.
Bob Simon is survived by his daughter, Tanya, who is a 60 Minutes producer, and wife, Franciose. He will be greatly missed by thousands of current and former admiring colleagues and friends. And millions of viewers will miss his distinctive voice and unique writing style. He truly was one of a kind.
He concluded the final chapter of Forty Days with what might have been broadcast then had things turned out differently for him. "That obituary for Simon showed clips of him in his various disguises: safari jackets, blazers, tuxedos, covering wars, uprisings, galas. It was well produced, well edited, and well written...It was first-rate television piece. Clearly, it deserved to make air."
Showing posts with label 60 Minutes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 60 Minutes. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
W's Iraq War
Ten years ago today the United States invaded Iraq with the goals of toppling its tyrannical ruler Saddam Hussein, destroying its weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and freeing its people to establish a democratic government. Now, a decade later, Saddam Hussein is dead, but no WMDs were ever found, and the country has devolved into a de facto civil war.
In February 2003 polls showed Americans overwhelmingly favored an invasion of Iraq. The Bush government had linked Hussein to al Qaeda, the terrorist group that launched a series of terrorists attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 Americans. The administration had made the case to the world that Hussein was arming Iraq with WMDs, and that he was conspiring with al Qaeda to launch further attacks on the United States and the western world.
In October 2002 the "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002" easily passed both houses of Congress with bipartisan support. The resolution authorized President Bush to use the U.S. military to, "defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq."
In February 2003 I traveled with a Telemundo news team to the White House to interview President Bush, one month before the Iraq invasion. War fever had built to a crescendo in Washington, and the White House wanted to make its case to Hispanic Americans.
President Bush entered our interview location, a room on the ground floor of the White House, with a swagger and a smile. He was imperious and proud. During the interview he went through his justifications for an invasion, but said that no final decision had been made.
Following the interview President Bush chatted with our group. I raised the issue of opposition to the pending war from the French, asking him, "What about President Jacques Chirac?" President Bush slapped me across my upper right arm with the back of his hand, cocked his head and said, "Don't worry, he'll come around." With that, he quickly said his goodbyes and confidently departed.
I turned to my team and said, "We're going to war!"
On March 20, 2003, American forces invaded Iraq and defeated Hussein's army. But U.S. forces were not greeted as "liberators", as Vice President Dick Cheney had predicted on NBC's Meet The Press prior to the war. The Bush administration failed to grasp how difficult, how complicated it would be to establish a unified government and a lasting peace in Iraq. In 2007, former CIA Director George Tenet, the man who once called the evidence justifying an Iraq invasion a "slam dunk", told CBS's 60 Minutes, "We could never verify that there was any Iraqi authority, direction and control, complicity with al Qaeda for 9/11 or any operational act against America. Period."
To date, nearly 4,500 members of the U.S. military have died in Iraq, and more than 30,000 have been injured. The Iraqi civilian deaths are estimated to be well over 100,000. Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies estimates that the Iraq War has cost more than $1.7 trillion to date, not counting an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans.
The last U.S. combat troops left Iraq in December 2011. But thousands of veterans are struggling with the after effects of war, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Meanwhile, a recent Gallup poll shows that 52% of Americans think the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, while 42% still support the war.
In Iraq, American influence is low, while violence continues daily, and tensions among the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds are at an all time high. One day, maybe, they'll come around.
In February 2003 polls showed Americans overwhelmingly favored an invasion of Iraq. The Bush government had linked Hussein to al Qaeda, the terrorist group that launched a series of terrorists attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 Americans. The administration had made the case to the world that Hussein was arming Iraq with WMDs, and that he was conspiring with al Qaeda to launch further attacks on the United States and the western world.
In October 2002 the "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002" easily passed both houses of Congress with bipartisan support. The resolution authorized President Bush to use the U.S. military to, "defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq."
In February 2003 I traveled with a Telemundo news team to the White House to interview President Bush, one month before the Iraq invasion. War fever had built to a crescendo in Washington, and the White House wanted to make its case to Hispanic Americans.
President Bush entered our interview location, a room on the ground floor of the White House, with a swagger and a smile. He was imperious and proud. During the interview he went through his justifications for an invasion, but said that no final decision had been made.
Following the interview President Bush chatted with our group. I raised the issue of opposition to the pending war from the French, asking him, "What about President Jacques Chirac?" President Bush slapped me across my upper right arm with the back of his hand, cocked his head and said, "Don't worry, he'll come around." With that, he quickly said his goodbyes and confidently departed.
I turned to my team and said, "We're going to war!"
On March 20, 2003, American forces invaded Iraq and defeated Hussein's army. But U.S. forces were not greeted as "liberators", as Vice President Dick Cheney had predicted on NBC's Meet The Press prior to the war. The Bush administration failed to grasp how difficult, how complicated it would be to establish a unified government and a lasting peace in Iraq. In 2007, former CIA Director George Tenet, the man who once called the evidence justifying an Iraq invasion a "slam dunk", told CBS's 60 Minutes, "We could never verify that there was any Iraqi authority, direction and control, complicity with al Qaeda for 9/11 or any operational act against America. Period."
To date, nearly 4,500 members of the U.S. military have died in Iraq, and more than 30,000 have been injured. The Iraqi civilian deaths are estimated to be well over 100,000. Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies estimates that the Iraq War has cost more than $1.7 trillion to date, not counting an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans.
The last U.S. combat troops left Iraq in December 2011. But thousands of veterans are struggling with the after effects of war, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Meanwhile, a recent Gallup poll shows that 52% of Americans think the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, while 42% still support the war.
In Iraq, American influence is low, while violence continues daily, and tensions among the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds are at an all time high. One day, maybe, they'll come around.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Romney Stumbles
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.” By his definition, were he alive today, Groucho Marx could point to Mitt Romney as a perfect example! But, no doubt many Republicans wish they could Etch A Sketch away the past six weeks of the Romney campaign.
Today many political observers characterize Romney's campaign as desperate, disoriented, erratic and lacking a budget plan. Yet, it was suppose to be so easy. Having won a bitterly contested Republican primary, Romney would be able to position himself as a successful "Mr. Fixit" businessman who could save the U.S. economy. His approach was to make the 2012 presidential race a referendum on President Barack Obama's handling of the economy. But before Romney could get out of the starting gate, the Obama campaign went after Mr. Fixit.
Romney was co-founder and once head of Bain Capital, one of the world's leading private asset management firms. It turns out that they succeeded in saving some businesses. But Bain also closed several companies down, took out millions of dollars and left thousands of people without jobs, all facts that the Obama campaign relentlessly pointed out. Of course, Bain Capital's main goal is to make big profits for its investors, not to create jobs. At the Democratic Convention, Vice President Joe Biden put it this way, “Folks, the Bain way may bring your firm the highest profits. But it’s not the way to lead your country from its highest office.”
Romney said he was a successful governor of Massachusetts. But his single biggest achievement was "Romneycare", the state's near universal health care law that was the blueprint for "Obamacare," which Romney has vowed to repeal on his first day if he is elected president. But last week Romney said, on NBC's Meet the Press, ”Of course, there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I’m going to put in place. One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage." This set off a firestorm among conservative Republicans. Later that day, Romney's campaign again reconfirmed he was against covering people with pre-existing conditions who have not had continuous health coverage.
At the Republican Convention, Romney was upstaged by an embarrassing endorsement from actor Clint Eastwood, who crudely spoke to an empty chair that represented President Obama. In his tepid acceptance speech, Romney focused on biography and talking points, but offered no specifics on how he would save the economy. And, in an inexplicable omission, Romney failed to mention the American soldiers serving in Afghanistan and around the world.
The Republican candidate, looking to further mobilize his conservative base and add some spice to the ticket, brought Representative Paul Ryan on as his running mate. Ryan is a favorite of the right, and author of the Ryan Budget Plan. But that plan, which was has widespread support among Congressional Republicans, calls for deep cuts in entitlements. Under Ryan's plan, Medicare would be voucherized and Medicaid would be converted to block grants to states. As a result, recipients would be left to personally pay for some of the quickly increasing medical costs they will face in the future.
If he embraced Ryan's plan, Romney would risk alienating many seniors, a critical demographic in many swing states. So Romney has been distancing himself from the Ryan plan. In an interview with CBS News, he was asked, "Are you running on [Ryan's] budget or on your budget?" Romney responded, "My budget, of course, I'm the one running for president." Yet, Romney has failed to offer specifics for about his budget.
Romney has also failed to explain why he has parked so many of his investments in off shore accounts. He found himself on the defensive on his personal taxes. He has adamantly said he will release only two years of federal returns. In his 2010 return he paid an effective rate of 13.8 percent in taxes on an income of $21.7 million. He has not yet released his final 2011 returns, but he has estimated he will pay an effective rate of 15.4 percent on income of $20.9 million. His taxes are certain to remain an issue heading into the election.
Romney and Ryan have little foreign policy experience, and it shows. Candidate Romney has blustered about the Russians and the Chinese as if, to use the president's description, he is "stuck in some cold-war tie warp." So it is no wonder he was poised to seize an opportunity to criticize the president on foreign policy. While terrorists were attacking the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which left four Americans dead, Romney was attacking the White House for a statement released by a middle level consulate official.
Romney's statement read, in part, "It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks." Very few facts were known at this point. In response to Romney's attack, the White House put out a statement, "We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack."
While many Republicans were questioning Romney's judgment, the candidate was doubling down at a news conference the next day. Republican columnist Peggy Noonan said, ""Romney looked weak today I feel, I'm still kind of absorbing it myself, at one point, he had a certain slight grimace on his face when he was taking tough questions from the reporters, and I thought, 'He looks like Richard Nixon.'"
President Obama, in an interview with 60 Minutes, said that Romney tends to "shoot first and aim later." He continued, “And as president, one of the things I’ve learned is you can’t do that, that, you know, it’s important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts. And that you’ve thought through the ramifications before you make ‘em.”
The past few weeks have been very difficult for candidate Romney. A just released Fox News national presidential poll shows President Obama with a 48% to 43% lead over Mitt Romney. Perhaps Romney's actions have had an adverse impact on his campaign. After all, you learn a lot about a person in a time of crisis.
Today many political observers characterize Romney's campaign as desperate, disoriented, erratic and lacking a budget plan. Yet, it was suppose to be so easy. Having won a bitterly contested Republican primary, Romney would be able to position himself as a successful "Mr. Fixit" businessman who could save the U.S. economy. His approach was to make the 2012 presidential race a referendum on President Barack Obama's handling of the economy. But before Romney could get out of the starting gate, the Obama campaign went after Mr. Fixit.
Romney was co-founder and once head of Bain Capital, one of the world's leading private asset management firms. It turns out that they succeeded in saving some businesses. But Bain also closed several companies down, took out millions of dollars and left thousands of people without jobs, all facts that the Obama campaign relentlessly pointed out. Of course, Bain Capital's main goal is to make big profits for its investors, not to create jobs. At the Democratic Convention, Vice President Joe Biden put it this way, “Folks, the Bain way may bring your firm the highest profits. But it’s not the way to lead your country from its highest office.”
Romney said he was a successful governor of Massachusetts. But his single biggest achievement was "Romneycare", the state's near universal health care law that was the blueprint for "Obamacare," which Romney has vowed to repeal on his first day if he is elected president. But last week Romney said, on NBC's Meet the Press, ”Of course, there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I’m going to put in place. One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage." This set off a firestorm among conservative Republicans. Later that day, Romney's campaign again reconfirmed he was against covering people with pre-existing conditions who have not had continuous health coverage.
At the Republican Convention, Romney was upstaged by an embarrassing endorsement from actor Clint Eastwood, who crudely spoke to an empty chair that represented President Obama. In his tepid acceptance speech, Romney focused on biography and talking points, but offered no specifics on how he would save the economy. And, in an inexplicable omission, Romney failed to mention the American soldiers serving in Afghanistan and around the world.
The Republican candidate, looking to further mobilize his conservative base and add some spice to the ticket, brought Representative Paul Ryan on as his running mate. Ryan is a favorite of the right, and author of the Ryan Budget Plan. But that plan, which was has widespread support among Congressional Republicans, calls for deep cuts in entitlements. Under Ryan's plan, Medicare would be voucherized and Medicaid would be converted to block grants to states. As a result, recipients would be left to personally pay for some of the quickly increasing medical costs they will face in the future.
If he embraced Ryan's plan, Romney would risk alienating many seniors, a critical demographic in many swing states. So Romney has been distancing himself from the Ryan plan. In an interview with CBS News, he was asked, "Are you running on [Ryan's] budget or on your budget?" Romney responded, "My budget, of course, I'm the one running for president." Yet, Romney has failed to offer specifics for about his budget.
Romney has also failed to explain why he has parked so many of his investments in off shore accounts. He found himself on the defensive on his personal taxes. He has adamantly said he will release only two years of federal returns. In his 2010 return he paid an effective rate of 13.8 percent in taxes on an income of $21.7 million. He has not yet released his final 2011 returns, but he has estimated he will pay an effective rate of 15.4 percent on income of $20.9 million. His taxes are certain to remain an issue heading into the election.
Romney and Ryan have little foreign policy experience, and it shows. Candidate Romney has blustered about the Russians and the Chinese as if, to use the president's description, he is "stuck in some cold-war tie warp." So it is no wonder he was poised to seize an opportunity to criticize the president on foreign policy. While terrorists were attacking the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which left four Americans dead, Romney was attacking the White House for a statement released by a middle level consulate official.
Romney's statement read, in part, "It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks." Very few facts were known at this point. In response to Romney's attack, the White House put out a statement, "We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack."
While many Republicans were questioning Romney's judgment, the candidate was doubling down at a news conference the next day. Republican columnist Peggy Noonan said, ""Romney looked weak today I feel, I'm still kind of absorbing it myself, at one point, he had a certain slight grimace on his face when he was taking tough questions from the reporters, and I thought, 'He looks like Richard Nixon.'"
President Obama, in an interview with 60 Minutes, said that Romney tends to "shoot first and aim later." He continued, “And as president, one of the things I’ve learned is you can’t do that, that, you know, it’s important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts. And that you’ve thought through the ramifications before you make ‘em.”
The past few weeks have been very difficult for candidate Romney. A just released Fox News national presidential poll shows President Obama with a 48% to 43% lead over Mitt Romney. Perhaps Romney's actions have had an adverse impact on his campaign. After all, you learn a lot about a person in a time of crisis.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Mike Wallace's Legacy
60 Minutes was a product of the late great Don Hewitt, its creator and tirelessly energetic executive producer. He asked the late Harry Reasoner, a brilliant writer, and Mike Wallace, a demanding interviewer, to anchor the program. 60 Minutes is one of the greatest television programs of all time. The broadcast has finished the season first in the television ratings five times, and it has finished among the season's top 10 programs 23 times.
Since its inception, its quality story-telling and fiercely competitive spirit has characterized 60 Minutes. And working for the powerful 60 Minutes brand name over the years were legendary journalists like, Morley Safer, Ed Bradley, Diane Sawyer, Dan Rather, Andy Rooney, Lesley Stahl, Steve Kroft, as well as Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace.
Mike was a perfect fit for 60 Minutes. His no-nonsense approach to investigative journalism and take-no-prisoners interview style helped define the program in its early years. He interviewed legends, movie stars and crooks with the same intensity. He would say, "I'm just nosy." But he was driven to be first with the story.
Mike was persistent, direct and brash when asking questions of his interview subjects. In 1979, Mike asked the Ayatollah Khomeini, in an interview with the Iranian leader in Iran, to respond to being called a "lunatic" by then Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. The visibly angry Ayatollah responded that Sadat "Compromises with his enemies."
In his career, Mike interviewed Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush senior and Clinton. He interviewed world leaders including Putin, Deng Xiaoping, Begin, Arafat and Meir. He interviewed stars like, Streisand, Carson and Horowitz. He interviewed Reverend Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. He once said, "There is no such thing as an indiscreet question."
As a correspondent Mike was a fighter. He would fight with his colleagues over a story assignment, he would loudly argue with Hewitt over the structure of his magazine piece, and he would push back hard at management when they wanted to change an adjective. Most of the time good reason and common sense prevailed. But no everyone he dealt with was a fan of his hard headed approach.
In 1982, CBS aired a documentary, The Uncounted Enemy: A Viet Nam Deception. The documentary alleged that U.S. Army General William Westmorland deliberately underestimated the enemy's troop strength to win American's continuing support for the war. Westmorland sued Mike and CBS for $120 million. During the bitter trial Mike was hospitalized for depression. In the end, Westmorland settled the suit with CBS.
The fact is that beneath that tough exterior, Mike Wallace struggled with depression after the Westmorland trial. Speaking of depression, he once said, "You fee lower than a snake's belly." He first publicly admitted he attempted suicide in an interview with his friend and colleague Morley Safer. He credited his wife, Mary Wallace, with having saved his life.
Later he spoke out more freely about his struggles with depression in hopes of ending the stigma that is associated with mental illness. He was honored by many leading mental health organizations, such as the Mental Health Association of New York City, for having the courage to go public so that others may learn.
"For people who are contemplating suicide, contemplate, who are so damn scared and in pain and all of those things are true when you’re in a bad clinical depression." Mike once said in an interview on WLIW. "Take a look at me, that what I’ve learned is that because I was saved I had 20 more years of very productive life."
Mike Wallace retired from 60 Minutes on March 14, 2006, nearly 38 years after he helped launch the program. In June 2008 Mike's son Chris Wallace, anchor of Fox News Sunday, announced his father would not be returning to television; 68 years after he made his network radio debut on WXYZ Detroit. During Mike's amazing career he won 21 Emmys, five DuPont-Columbia and five Peabody Awards. He also won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 1996. And in 1991, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
In 1997 Mike told People magazine, "Do I have regrets? No. What good would regrets do now? Would I do things differently? Yes, but I wasn't wise enough at the time. Life is full of decisions, isn't it? And I've made some of the right ones and some of the wrong ones, but I made the right choices for me. Now that may sound selfish, but that's being honest."
Thank you Mike for all your support, your advice and friendship.
More on Mike Wallace From CBS News
More in Newsday
Saturday, October 1, 2011
A Few Minutes About Andy Rooney
Zoe Peyronnin & Andy Rooney, Hill Country Barbeque, NYC, 2010Andy Rooney has been the voice of America for thirty-three years. He once described himself as, "a dead center normal average American." But the always modest Rooney was so much more.
Rooney seemed to epitomize a curmudgeon--however, he really just played one on television. And he willingly accepted this role, "I don’t like to complain all the time, but that’s what I do for a living, and I am lucky because there is so much to complain about." And complain he did, about everything from the way shoes are made to the way mixed nuts are packed. That is why his weekly "60 Minutes" commentaries connected with viewers. He spoke for them.
Born in Albany, New York, in 1919, Rooney experienced the Great Depression as a young boy. He attended Colgate University until he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Rooney began writing for the Army publication "Stars and Stripes" in London and found himself on the frontlines of history. He reported and wrote about the allied entry into German occupied Paris and the concentration camps. He also was one of six correspondents who flew on the first U.S. bombing raid over Germany in 1943. These experiences had an important impact on his career.
Following the war Rooney joined CBS in 1949 as a writer for Arthur Godfrey, whose shows were hits on television and radio. He later moved on to the "Garry Moore Show", which also was a hit program. And, at the same time, he began writing for CBS News public affairs programs, including "The 20th Century". Subsequently he collaborated with the late CBS News correspondent Harry Reasoner on many critically acclaimed specials. In 1968, he wrote two CBS News specials in the series "Of Black America", and he won his first Emmy for his script for "Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed".
In 1978, "60 Minutes" creator and executive producer Don Hewitt began including Andy Rooney's essays at the end of the program as a summer replacement for its "Point/Counterpoint" segments, with Shana Alexander and James Kilpatrick. Rooney's commentaries were so popular by the fall that Hewitt alternated Rooney with "Point/Counterpoint". By the end of the season Kilpatrick and Alexander were dropped in favor of "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney".
For nearly fifty years Rooney wrote his essays and scripts on a 1920 Underwood typewriter. His transition to computers was not smooth and the experience resulted in a commentary directed at Microsoft founder Bill Gates. "Some one screwed up the way computers work and I blame it on him," Rooney opined. "I had one typewriter for fifty years, but I bought seven computers in six years," he observed, "I suppose that is why Bill Gates in rich and Underwood is out of business." Rooney said the reason is, "They make computers so you have to buy a new one when there is a full moon."
Rooney came up with the ideas for all his commentaries. He would write them in a modest office in the CBS Broadcast Center on New York City's westside. He would then record them there, at his desk, at the end of the week. It was all very low-tech. Yet the commentaries almost always had an impact on millions of viewers.
At 92 years of age Andy Rooney has decided to cut back on his work schedule. His final regular appearance Sunday will be his 1097th commentary for "60 Minutes". "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" was a unique fixture on American television that will never be replaced but will always be remembered. Thank you, Andy.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
60 Minutes at 40!
60 MINUTES officially celebrated its 40th birthday last night at the Central Park Boat House. Jeff Fager, who is its current "brilliant" executive producer, hosted more than two hundred present and past staff members and friends.
Most striking was the presence of the creator and founding executive producer, the brilliant Don Hewitt, who recently underwent heart surgery. He was physically weak, ashen faced and crooked over at the hip. His usual energetic and booming voice was weak and strained. This is a man who once walked with great swagger, confidence and gravitas. This is the man who directed the 1960 presidential debates between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, and SEE IT NOW with Edward R. Murrow.
Hewitt had to be helped to the podium and he had difficulty reading the three pages of remarks he had prepared. With humor and great pride he spoke of his team of correspondents beginning with his co-conspirator, Mike Wallace. There probably would have been no 60 MINUTES had Mike Wallace not been involved.
In the mid-sixties, Don Hewitt served as executive producer of the CBS EVENING NEWS with Walter Cronkite. Hewitt had expanded the program from fifteen minutes to a half hour. But Cronkite did not like Hewitt because he did not think of him as a serious journalist. He called him a "showman," which was the worst denunciation for a serious journalist. Cronkite wanted Hewitt removed, and in time he got his wish.
One day, Hewitt was summoned to the front office. He was informed he was getting a "promotion" and would take over CBS News specials and development. He was told this was a newly created position. When Hewitt enthusiastically informed his wife of his "promotion" she said, without hesitation, "Don, you just got fired." At that point, Hewitt realized that Cronkite had pushed him off the evening news.
Hewitt cannot sit still, ever. In his new position he produced a couple news specials and came up with a new idea for a program. He thought to himself if there can be a Life magazine on the newsstands, why can't there be a news magazine on television. He came up with a concept, three long form pieces in a one-hour format. The anchors would be the reporters. And he talked Mike Wallace into helping him do a pilot along with the late Harry Reasoner.
Upon completion of the pilot, he had difficulty getting an audience with executives. Stories have it that when executives would see Hewitt coming down the hall carrying a big blue videotape container, they would duck into the bathroom. But finally he wore executives down and they decided, beginning September 24, 1968, to give 60 Minutes a Tuesday nighttime slot, biweekly, competing against the number one show in television. It was a rocky start.
There were only three powerful commercial television networks back then and the FCC was concerned about how the networks served the community. The "Vast Wasteland" were words that echoed through the American consciousness throughout the sixties; the 1961 words of then FCC chairman Newton Minow. In 1971, the Prime Time Access Rules were enacted, and in January 1972 60 MINUTES would occupy the Sunday "family viewing hour" set aside for informative programming. Within a couple years, fueled by oustanding coverage of the Viet Nam War and Watergate, correspondents Mike Wallace and Morley Safer helped lead 60 MINUTES into the top ten of all television programs. Since its launch 60 MINUTES has finished the television season as the top ranked program in household ratings a half-dozen times.
I was the CBS News executive in charge of 60 MINUTES from 1988 to 1995. The job consisted of screening their pieces for final approval before airing, and serving as marriage counselor for all of the powerful, competitive and talented correspondents and producers who worked on the broadcast. Correspondents such as, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner, Diane Sawyer, Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft, Meredith Vieira, Lesley Stahl, Bob Simon, Scott Pelley, Andy Rooney and later Christiane Amanpour, Lara Logan, Katie Couric, Charlie Rose and Anderson Cooper.
As Don Hewitt wrapped up his remarks last night to warm applause, Morley Safer stepped to the microphone and acknowledged Ed Bradley and Harry Reasoner, who even in death were still a powerful presence in the room. I looked carefully at Safer. I then looked over at Mike Wallace, seated at a table in front. Despite being ninety years old and weak, he had only recently retired. I then looked at Andy Rooney, seated nearby, and realized he is still working full time even though he will be ninety next January. These people have been my heroes, my icons for my entire adult life. And they created and served on the longest running television program in history, and the best television news program ever. Thankfully, because a great tradition of story telling has been preserved and re-energized by Jeff Fager, 60 MINUTES will provide outstanding content for at least another generation.
I am truly proud and grateful to have had a small role in the meaningful and important life of 60 MINUTES.
Most striking was the presence of the creator and founding executive producer, the brilliant Don Hewitt, who recently underwent heart surgery. He was physically weak, ashen faced and crooked over at the hip. His usual energetic and booming voice was weak and strained. This is a man who once walked with great swagger, confidence and gravitas. This is the man who directed the 1960 presidential debates between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, and SEE IT NOW with Edward R. Murrow.
Hewitt had to be helped to the podium and he had difficulty reading the three pages of remarks he had prepared. With humor and great pride he spoke of his team of correspondents beginning with his co-conspirator, Mike Wallace. There probably would have been no 60 MINUTES had Mike Wallace not been involved.
In the mid-sixties, Don Hewitt served as executive producer of the CBS EVENING NEWS with Walter Cronkite. Hewitt had expanded the program from fifteen minutes to a half hour. But Cronkite did not like Hewitt because he did not think of him as a serious journalist. He called him a "showman," which was the worst denunciation for a serious journalist. Cronkite wanted Hewitt removed, and in time he got his wish.
One day, Hewitt was summoned to the front office. He was informed he was getting a "promotion" and would take over CBS News specials and development. He was told this was a newly created position. When Hewitt enthusiastically informed his wife of his "promotion" she said, without hesitation, "Don, you just got fired." At that point, Hewitt realized that Cronkite had pushed him off the evening news.
Hewitt cannot sit still, ever. In his new position he produced a couple news specials and came up with a new idea for a program. He thought to himself if there can be a Life magazine on the newsstands, why can't there be a news magazine on television. He came up with a concept, three long form pieces in a one-hour format. The anchors would be the reporters. And he talked Mike Wallace into helping him do a pilot along with the late Harry Reasoner.
Upon completion of the pilot, he had difficulty getting an audience with executives. Stories have it that when executives would see Hewitt coming down the hall carrying a big blue videotape container, they would duck into the bathroom. But finally he wore executives down and they decided, beginning September 24, 1968, to give 60 Minutes a Tuesday nighttime slot, biweekly, competing against the number one show in television. It was a rocky start.
There were only three powerful commercial television networks back then and the FCC was concerned about how the networks served the community. The "Vast Wasteland" were words that echoed through the American consciousness throughout the sixties; the 1961 words of then FCC chairman Newton Minow. In 1971, the Prime Time Access Rules were enacted, and in January 1972 60 MINUTES would occupy the Sunday "family viewing hour" set aside for informative programming. Within a couple years, fueled by oustanding coverage of the Viet Nam War and Watergate, correspondents Mike Wallace and Morley Safer helped lead 60 MINUTES into the top ten of all television programs. Since its launch 60 MINUTES has finished the television season as the top ranked program in household ratings a half-dozen times.
I was the CBS News executive in charge of 60 MINUTES from 1988 to 1995. The job consisted of screening their pieces for final approval before airing, and serving as marriage counselor for all of the powerful, competitive and talented correspondents and producers who worked on the broadcast. Correspondents such as, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner, Diane Sawyer, Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft, Meredith Vieira, Lesley Stahl, Bob Simon, Scott Pelley, Andy Rooney and later Christiane Amanpour, Lara Logan, Katie Couric, Charlie Rose and Anderson Cooper.
As Don Hewitt wrapped up his remarks last night to warm applause, Morley Safer stepped to the microphone and acknowledged Ed Bradley and Harry Reasoner, who even in death were still a powerful presence in the room. I looked carefully at Safer. I then looked over at Mike Wallace, seated at a table in front. Despite being ninety years old and weak, he had only recently retired. I then looked at Andy Rooney, seated nearby, and realized he is still working full time even though he will be ninety next January. These people have been my heroes, my icons for my entire adult life. And they created and served on the longest running television program in history, and the best television news program ever. Thankfully, because a great tradition of story telling has been preserved and re-energized by Jeff Fager, 60 MINUTES will provide outstanding content for at least another generation.
I am truly proud and grateful to have had a small role in the meaningful and important life of 60 MINUTES.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Journalism is not Dead!
In his recent column, Steve Rosenbaum, of The Huffington Post, cynically declared, "Google didn't kill journalism, Don Hewitt did."
Don Hewitt is the legendary creator of the CBS News program 60 Minutes. Rosenbaum writes, "Up to 60 Minutes, journalism wasn't a business - it was a calling." He then continues, "there was no P&L for journalism, it was what the TV networks did to 'give back' to their communities."
First of all, everyone currently working at 60 Minutes believes journalism is very much alive. So do most journalists working in the profession, whether in television, radio, newspapers, magazines or the Internet. However, there is no denying that journalism is undergoing a rapid transformation that is posing great challenges to news standards and its traditional business models.
Similar challenges have been present throughout the history of journalism. After World War II, the advent of television threatened the powerful radio industry. CBS founder William Paley regularly pressured news executives in the forties, fifties and sixties on budget matters. Back then news was not as costly to produce, salaries were relatively modest, and news organizations were small. Radio and television programs would not be green-lighted unless they had a sponsor, and poorly performing shows would be canceled.
Don Hewitt is a television pioneer who helped define broadcast journalism and he is responsible for many of the production techniques you see today. He created 60 Minutes in the late sixties, and it has been the most successful program in television history. Still today it regularly ranks in the top ten of all television programs. During its lifetime it has earned hundreds of millions of dollars in profits for CBS.
However, here again Rosenbaum is wrong when he asserts, "there was a moment when Hewitt could have insisted that 60 Minutes revenues (profits) went to the news division to fund other worthwhile and less profitable journalism." The fact is that 60 Minutes profits did always go to help cover other news division costs. Regretfully, due to higher production costs and lower revenues, the program's profit margin has declined to a fraction of what it was two decades ago.
Because 60 Minutes was so wildly successful, other newsmagazines began to appear (imitation is the highest form of television). 20/20 and Primetime on ABC, Dateline on NBC, and CBS News created West 57th, Street Stories, Eye to Eye with Connie Chung and 48 Hours. Corporate finance executives supported these programs because they are cheaper to produce than sitcoms or dramas. But entertainment executives resisted expanding the role of newsmagazines because their viewership skews very old, they earn lower rates from advertisers and they take valuable real estate away from traditional entertainment producers.
Rosenbaum recalls "being in the office of the executive producer of 48 Hours when the head of the entertainment division called - screaming...the ratings for the night before...were low...news and entertainment where supposed to be separated by a wall." This happened occasionally at 48 Hours because the entertainment division wanted to kill the program, and the show's executive producer frequently lobbied the west coast to keep the program on the schedule. The conflict existed because a news program slotted in an entertainment time period was judged by the same standards as an entertainment program. Yet more news programming meant more revenues and influence for the news division.
Today, driven by technological advancements and increased competition on multiple platforms, journalism is rapidly evolving. Old business models are dying as advertising revenue is shifting away from traditional media, such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television to the Internet and mobile.
The good news is that journalism is more readily accessible today than it was forty years ago. One challenge has been to produce high quality content more quickly while maintaining accuracy in an era of instant communications. Another is journalists find they need to offer more perspective and analysis to help people sort out the flood of information being unleashed every day. But the key to being successful in journalism still is, in Don Hewitt's own words, "great stories, well-told."
No, journalism is not dying. And Don Hewitt is my hero!
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