60 Minutes is an investigative television newsmagazine on United States television, which has run on CBS News since 1968. The
program was created by long time producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style
of reporter-centered investigation. It has been among the top-rated TV programs for much of its life, and has garnered numerous
awards over the years. It is considered by many to be the preeminent investigative television program in the United States.
History
Since the late-70s, the opening features the
Aristo stopwatch. Since October
29, 2006, the background changed to white.
The inspiration of the show came from the controversial Canadian news program
This Hour Has Seven Days, which ran from 1964 to 1966.
Initially, 60 Minutes aired as a bi-weekly show hosted by Harry Reasoner and
Mike Wallace, debuting on September 24,
1968 and alternating weeks with other CBS News productions on Tuesday evenings. Don Hewitt, who had
been a producer of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, sought out Wallace as a stylistic contrast to Reasoner (Madsen, 14). According to one
historian of the show, the idea of the format was to make the hosts the reporters, to always feature stories that were of
national import but focused upon individuals involved with, or in conflict with, those issues, and to limit the reports' airtime
to around thirteen minutes (Madsen 14). However, the initial season was troubled by lack of network confidence.
Morley Safer joined the team in 1970, and he took over the task of reporting less
aggressive stories. However, when Richard Nixon began targeting press access and
reporting, even Safer began to do "hard" investigative reports, and that year alone 60 Minutes reported on
cluster bombs, the South Vietnamese
Army, Canada's amnesty for American draft dodgers, Nigeria, the Middle East, and Northern
Ireland (Madsen 15). In 1983, Safer's report, "Lenell Geter's in Jail," single-handedly freed from prison the Texan who
was wrongly convicted of armed robbery, and is, to this day, one of the program's crowning achievements.
In 1971, the "Point/Counterpoint" segment was introduced, featuring James J.
Kilpatrick and Nicholas von Hoffman (later Shana Alexander), a three minute debate between spokespeople for the political right and left, respectively. This segment
pioneered a format that would later be adapted by CNN for its Crossfire show. This ran until 1979, when Andy Rooney, whose
commentaries were already alternating with the debate segment since the fall of 1978, replaced it; Rooney remains with the
program today.
By 1971, the FCC introduced the Prime Time Access Rule, which freed local network affiliates in the top 50 markets (in practice,
the entire network) to take a half hour of prime time from the networks on Mondays through Saturdays and one full hour on
Sundays. Because nearly all affiliates found production costs for the FCC's intended goal of increased public affairs programming
very high and the ratings (thus advertising revenues) low, making it mostly unprofitable, the FCC created an exception for
network-authored news and public affairs. After a six-month hiatus in late 1971, CBS thus found a prime place for 60
Minutes in a portion of that displaced time, 6-7 (5-6 Central) p.m. on Sundays, in January 1972 (Madsen 15).
This proved somewhat less than satisfactory, however, as, especially during the fall when CBS broadcast late National Football League games, 60 Minutes got preempted fairly frequently; football
telecasts were protected contractually from interruptions in the wake of the infamous "Heidi
Game" incident on NBC in November 1968. Other sporting events such as golf tournaments occasionally caused this problem also. Nonetheless, the program's hard-hitting reports attracted a
steadily growing audience, particularly during the waning days of the Vietnam War and the
gripping events of the Watergate scandal; at that time, few if any other major-network
news shows did in-depth investigative reporting to the degree carried out by 60 Minutes. Eventually, during the summers of
1973 through 1975, CBS did allow the show back onto the prime time schedule proper, on Fridays in 1973 and Sundays the two years
thereafter.
It was only when the FCC returned an hour to the networks on Sundays (for children's/family or news programming), taken away
from them four years earlier, in a 1975 amendment to the
Access Rule that CBS finally found a viable permanent timeslot for 60 Minutes. When a family-oriented drama, Three for
the Road, ended after a 13-week run in the fall, the newsmagazine took its place at 7/6 p.m. in December. It has aired at
that time since, for over 31 years, making 60 Minutes not only the longest-running prime time program currently in
production, but also the television program broadcasting for the longest length of time at a single time period each week.
This move made the program into a strong ratings hit and, eventually, a general cultural phenomenon. Within the first season,
60 Minutes became the top-rated show on Sunday nights in the U.S. By 1979, it had achieved the number-one Nielsen rating for all television programs. This success translated into great profits for CBS;
advertising rates went from $17,000 per thirty seconds in 1975 to $175,000 in 1982 (Madsen 17).
In 1979, Channel 9 in Australia licensed a spin-off of 60 Minutes, complete with
ticking clock and format, and, later, New Zealand followed suit with its own
60 Minutes.
At 88 years old, Mike Wallace is not only the oldest television personality today (being four months older than
Helen Wagner), but one who has lasted the longest with one news show continuously, having
been a part of 60 Minutes since its inception in 1968. On March 14, 2006, Wallace announced his retirement from 60 Minutes after 37 years with the program. He continues to work
for CBS News as a "Correspondent Emeritus".
As of 2007, 60 Minutes is the only regularly scheduled television program without any type of theme music. The only theme sound is from the signature Aristo stopwatch in the opening title credit and in the
credit immediately before each commercial break.
60 Minutes is also aired via CBS Radio on several of their radio stations at the
same time as the television broadcast, such as WCBS-AM, KNX,
WBBM-AM, and several other stations across the country owned by CBS. An audio version of the
full show is also distributed via podcast and the iTunes
Store, beginning with the September 23, 2007 progam [1].
Format
The format of 60 Minutes consists of three long-form news stories, without superimposed graphics. The stories are
introduced from a set which has a backdrop resembling a magazine story on the same topic. The show undertakes its own
investigations and follows up on investigations instigated by national newspapers and other sources.
Many topics center on allegations of wrongdoing and corruption on the part of corporations, politicians, and other public
officials. Said figures are commonly either subjected to an interview, or evade contact with the 60 Minutes crew
altogether, either by written notice or by simply fleeing from the approaching journalist and his camera crew. Instead of
summarizing an interview or providing direct commentary on an issue, 60 Minutes prefers to air the interview itself. When
the subject is hiding a secret, the viewers witness the evasion directly.
The show also features profiles. The profiles are occasionally of celebrities and offer up a biography of the figure, focusing upon the celebrity's early life story, obstacles, and choices, rather than
offering a simple publicity platform. Non-celebrity profiles usually feature a person who has
accomplished an heroic action or striven to improve the world.
In tone, 60 Minutes blends the probing journalism of the seminal 1950s CBS series See
It Now with Edward R. Murrow (a show for which Hewitt was the director its
first few years) and the personality profiles of another Murrow program, Person to Person. In Hewitt's own words, 60
Minutes blends "higher Murrow" and "lower Murrow."
For most of the 1970s, the program included the Point/Counterpoint segment in which a liberal and a conservative commentator
would debate a particular issue. This originally featured James J. Kilpatrick representing the conservative side and
Nicholas von Hoffman for the liberals, with Shana
Alexander taking over for von Hoffman after he departed in 1974. Although discontinued in 1979, when Andy Rooney, who had previously left the show with Harry Reasoner, returned to offer commentary, the segment
was an innovation that caught the public imagination as a live version of competing editorials. Point/Counterpoint was also lampooned by the NBC comedy series
Saturday Night Live, which featured Jane
Curtin and Dan Aykroyd as debaters, with Aykroyd typically beginning his remarks
with, "Jane, you ignorant slut", and in the motion picture Airplane!, in which the
faux Kilpatrick argues in favor of the plane crashing.
A similar concept was revived briefly in March 2003, this time featuring Bob Dole and
Bill Clinton, former opponents in the 1996 presidential election. The pair agreed to do ten segments, which were
called "Clinton/Dole" and "Dole/Clinton" in alternating weeks, but did not continue into the fall television season. Reports
indicated that the segments were considered too gentlemanly, in the style of the earlier Point/Counterpoint, and lacked the
feistiness of Crossfire.[2]
Since 1979, the show has usually ended with a (usually light-hearted or humorous) commentary by Andy Rooney expounding on
topics of wildly varying import, ranging from international politics, to economics, and to personal philosophy on every-day life.
One recurring topic has been measuring the amount of coffee in coffee cans.[3] Rooney's pieces, particularly one in which he referred to actor Mel
Gibson as a "wacko," have on occasion led to complaints from viewers.
On Sunday, October 29, 2006, the opening sequence changed from a black background to white. The black background had been used
for over a decade.
Correspondents
Mike Wallace is perhaps the iconic representation of the style of
journalism for which the show is known and has been on the show since its inception in 1968. Wallace retired in 2006, but remains
as Correspondent Emeritus and retains an office at CBS News Headquarters.
The program's correspondents and commentators have included:
Part-time:
Past correspondents
Commentators
Since 1978, Andy Rooney has contributed a commentary at the end of episodes. Other
commentators include:
Ratings and recognition
Based on ratings, 60 Minutes is the most successful broadcast in U.S. television history. For five of its seasons it
has been that year's top program, a feat only matched by the sitcoms
All in the Family and The Cosby
Show. It was a top ten show for 23 seasons in a row (1977-2000), an unsurpassed record.[6]
60 Minutes first broke into the Ratings Top 20 during the 1976-77 season. The following season it was the
fourth-most-watched show, and by 1979-80, it was the number one show.[6] During the 21st century it remains among the top 20 programs in the Nielsen Ratings, and the highest-rated news magazine.[7]
CBS has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Peabody Awards for the
segments "All in the Family", an investigation into abuses by government and military contractors; "The CIA's Cocaine", which
uncovered CIA involvement in drug smuggling; "Friendly Fire", a report on incidents of friendly
fire in the Gulf War; and "Duke Rape Suspects Speak Out", the first interviews with the
suspects in the 2006 Duke University lacrosse team scandal.[8] They received an Investigative Reporter and Editor medal for
their segment "The Osprey", documenting a Marine coverup of deadly flaws in the V-22 Osprey
helicopter. In 2007, 60 Minutes received twelve Emmy Awards nominations. [9]
Controversies
The show has been praised for landmark journalism and received many awards. However, it has also become embroiled in some
controversy, including:
William Westmoreland
In the 1982 "The Uncounted Enemy, a Vietnam Deception," which Mike Wallace narrated for CBS Reports, the news division's
documentary program, it was reported that William Westmoreland, former commander of
American military operations in the Vietnam War, withheld information from decision-makers
in Washington for political reasons. Westmoreland held a press conference a few days later, calling it a 'preposterous hoax,' and
eventually sued for libel. TV Guide issued a report called 'Anatomy of a Smear,'
detailing problems with the report, including the ignoring of contrary evidence, and video editing to change the questions
Westmoreland is asked. Westmoreland withdrew the suit a few days before the protracted case was given to the jury. He and CBS
News issued a joint statement in which CBS said it "does not believe that General Westmoreland was unpatriotic or disloyal in
performing his duties as he saw them." Westmoreland claimed a victory; CBS, in a separate statement, said nothing in the trial
changed its stance that the report was "fair and accurate."
Unintended acceleration
On November 23, 1986, 60 Minutes aired a segment
greenlit by Don Hewitt, concerning the Audi 5000
automobile, a popular German luxury car. The story concerned a number of incidents where the car purportedly accelerated without
warning while parked, injuring or killing people. 60 Minutes was unable to duplicate this behavior, and so hired an
outside consultant to modify the transmission to behave in this manner, and aired a story about it.
The incident devastated Audi sales in the United States, which did not reach the same
level for another fifteen years. The initial incidents which prompted the report were found by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Transport Canada to have been attributable to operator error, where car owners had depressed the
accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal. CBS issued a partial retraction, without acknowledging the test results of involved
government agencies.[10]
A rival to 60 Minutes, Dateline NBC, would be found guilty of similar
tactics years later regarding fuel tank integrity on General Motors pickup trucks.
Alar
In February, 1989 60 Minutes aired a report by the Natural Resources
Defense Council highlighting problems with Alar, a chemical sprayed on apples. Apple
sales dropped and CBS was sued by apple growers. [11]
Werner Erhard, March 3rd, 1991
A 60 Minutes broadcast of March 3, 1991 dealt with
controversies involving Werner Erhard's personal and business life :
Perhaps the most damaging blow of all against Erhard was a March 3 "60 Minutes" television report that detailed testimony from
three of his daughters, several former EST leaders, and a housekeeper. Together, they accused Erhard of being a tyrant and a
cult leader who declared himself to be God at staff meetings, administered a
savage beating to his son, ordered his ex-wife nearly strangled to death during a two-day beating, and sexually molested one of
his daughters and raped another.
The "60 Minutes" report also detailed that Erhard had bailed out of his $70-million-a-year business. Published reports say he
sold his human-potential movement empire in February to a group of his employees for an undisclosed sum and put most of his
possessions (including the yacht where he lived in Sausalito harbor) up for sale. The San
Jose Mercury News, speculating that Erhard may have fled the country, quoted a witness who said he watched three men load
boxes and steamer trunks from Erhard's warehouse into a Tokyo Express moving van.[12]
In his 1993 book Outrageous Betrayal published by St. Martin's Press, Steven Pressman detailed how Erhard
filed but then withdrew a lawsuit alleging "false, misleading and defamatory statements" against CBS in the wake of the latter's
60 Minutes program:[13]
One year after the "60 Minutes" piece aired, Erhard filed a lawsuit against CBS and a variety of
other defendants, claiming that the broadcast contained several "false, misleading and defamatory" statements about Erhard.
However, Erhard dropped the lawsuit a few months before any court decision had been reached on its claims.[13]
Author Jane Self defended Werner Erhard's position in the 1992 Breakthru Publishing book, 60 Minutes
and the Assassination of Werner Erhard.
Brown and Williamson
In 1995, former Brown and Williamson (B&W) Vice President for Research and
Development Jeffrey Wigand provided information to 60 Minutes producer
Lowell Bergman that B&W had systematically hidden the health risks of their
cigarettes. (See transcription.) Furthermore, it was
alleged that B&W had introduced foreign agents (fiberglass, ammonia, etc.) with the intent of enhancing the effect of nicotine. Bergman
began to produce a piece based upon the information, but ran into opposition from Don Hewitt who, along with CBS lawyers, feared
a billion dollar lawsuit from Brown and Williamson. Interestingly, a number of people in CBS would benefit from a sale of CBS to
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, including the head of CBS lawyers and
CBS News. Also, because of the interview, the son of the President of CBS Laurence Tisch,
was among the people from the big tobacco companies in the risk of being caught having
committed perjury.
Because of the hesitation from Hewitt, The Wall Street Journal instead
broke Wigand's story. The 60 Minutes piece was eventually aired with substantially altered content, and was missing some
of the most damning evidence against B&W. The exposé of the incident was
published in an article in Vanity Fair by Marie
Brenner, entitled The Man Who Knew Too Much.[14] The New York
Times wrote that 60 Minutes and CBS had "betrayed the legacy of Edward R.
Murrow." The incident was turned into a seven-times Oscar-nominated feature film
entitled The Insider, directed by Michael Mann and starring Russell Crowe and
Al Pacino.
U.S. Customs Service
60 Minutes alleged in 1997 that agents of the U.S. Customs
Service ignored drug trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border at San Diego.[15] The only evidence was a memorandum apparently written by
Rudy Camacho, who was the head of the San Diego branch office. Based on this memo, CBS alleged that Camacho had allowed
trucks belonging to a particular firm to cross the border unimpeded. Mike Horner, a
former Customs Service employee, had passed the memos on to 60 Minutes, and even provided a copy with an official stamp.
Camacho was not consulted about the article, and his career was devastated in the immediate term as his own department placed
suspicion on him. In the end, it turned out that Horner had forged the documents as an act of revenge for his treatment within
the Customs Service. Camacho successfully sued CBS for an unknown settlement, and Don Hewitt was forced to issue an on-air
retraction.[16]
Kennewick man
A legal battle between archaeologists and the Umatilla tribe over the remains of a
skeleton, nicknamed Kennewick man, was reported on by 60 Minutes (October 25, 1998), to
which the Umatilla tribe reacted very negatively. The tribe considered the segment heavily biased in favor of the scientists,
cutting out important arguments, such as explanations of Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.[17] The report focused heavily on the racial politics of the
controversy and also added inflammatory arguments, such as questioning the legitimacy of Native American sovereignty[18] -- much of the racial focus of the segment was later
reported to be unfounded or misinterpreted.[19]
Viacom cross-promotion
In recent years the show has been accused of promoting books, films, and interviews with celebrities who are published or
promoted by sister businesses in the Viacom empire (2000-2005), without disclosing the
journalistic conflict-of-interest to viewers.[20]
However, due to media consolidation, this has become standard practice
on many television news broadcasts.
60 Minutes II
-
In 1999, a second edition of 60 Minutes was started in the U.S., called 60 Minutes II. This edition was later
renamed 60 Minutes by CBS for the fall of 2004 in an effort to sell it as a high-quality program, since some had
sarcastically referred to it as 60 Minutes, Jr. CBS News president Andrew Heyward
said, "The Roman numeral II created some confusion on the part of the viewers and suggested a watered-down version".[21] However, a widely-known controversy which came to be known
as "Rathergate," regarding a report that aired September
8, 2004, caused another name change. The show was renamed 60 Minutes Wednesday both
to differentiate itself and to avoid tarnishing the Sunday edition, as the editions were editorially independent from one
another. The show reverted to its original title with Roman numerals on July 8, 2005, when the show moved to a Friday night 8pm ET timeslot to finish its run. Its last broadcast was on
September 2, 2005.
International versions
Australia
-
The Australian 60 Minutes premiered on February
11, 1979. It airs on Sunday nights on the Nine
Network.
Reporter Richard Carleton suffered a heart attack on 7 May 2006.
He asked a question at a news conference for the Beaconsfield mine collapse,
then walked out and suffered cardiac arrest. Paramedics tried to revive him for 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Although they have the rights to the format, as of 2007 they do not have rights to the US stories. Nevertheless, they often
air them by subleasing them from Network Ten.
In 1980 60 minutes won a Logie award for their
investigation of lethal abuses at Chelmsford psychiatric hospital in Sydney.
On 16 September 2007, 60 Minutes did a segment on french
sport Parkour, which showcased famous tracuers Rhys James and Shaun
Woods.
New Zealand
-
The New Zealand version of 60 Minutes has aired on national television since 1989,
when it was shown on TV3. In 1992 the rights were acquired by TVNZ, who began broadcasting it in 1993. The network aired the program for nine years before
dropping it in 2002 for its own program, entitled Sunday. Sunday is currently the highest rating current affairs
show broadcast on New Zealand television, followed by 20/20. 60 Minutes is now broadcast by
rival network TV3.
Portugal
The Portugal version of 60 Minutes airs on SIC Notícias and is hosted by Mário
Crespo.
France
The France version of 60 Minutes is titled 66 Minutes and airs on
M6
Other versions
- There was a briefly-lived Mexican version in the late 1970s.
- There was also a Peruvian version in the early 1980s, called 60 minutos. However, in the late 1980s also existed a
similarly named series, but unrelated to the CBS News show.
- In 2004, Brazil's Rede Bandeirantes planned a licensed localized version, but the plan was canceled.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6480413.html
- ^ '60 Minutes'
may veto Clinton-Dole face-offs, Peter Johnson, USA Today, 6 May 2003.
- ^ "A Pound of
Coffee?", Andy Rooney, CBS News, July 6, 2003.
- ^ 60 Minutes' Ed
Bradley Dead At 65. CBS News (November 9, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-09.
- ^ Mike Wallace Retires
From '60 Minutes,' CBS News, 14 March
2006.
- ^ a b
CBS Interactive Inc, 60 Minutes:
Milestones, <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/08/20/60minutes/main59202.shtml>.
Retrieved on 2007-05-22
- ^
Peter, Johnson, At '60 Minutes,' clock ticking on change, <http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2003-08-10-media-mix_x.htm>. Retrieved on
2007-05-22
- ^ 66th Annual Peabody Awards Winners Announced
- ^ 12 Emmy Nominations For "60 Minutes"
- ^ "A Car Possessed by Demons," Ukrainian Archive, April 24, 2002.
- ^ "Judge Dismisses Apple Growers' Suit Against CBS", New York Times, September 14, 1993. Retrieved on 2007-07-21. “A Federal judge today dismissed a lawsuit that
apple growers in Washington State filed against CBS after "60 Minutes" broadcast a report linking the chemical Alar to cancer.
The report, broadcast Feb. 26, 1989, said the use of Alar increased the risk of cancer in humans, particularly children, and
cited a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council.”
- ^ "News Watch"(a
column from the Christian Research Institute, Summer 1991, page 5) by
William M. Alnor, Werner Erhard Flees in the Wake of
Tax Liens and Child Abuse Allegations
- ^ a b Pressman, Steven,
Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1993, p.257-258. ISBN 0-312-09296-2
- ^ "The Man Who Knew Too Much," Marie Brenner, Vanity Fair, May, 1996.
- ^ "I'd Rather Be Blogging: CBS stonewalls as 'guys in pajamas' uncover a fraud.",
John Fund, The Wall Street Journal,
September 13, 2004.
- ^ abstract Another 60 Minutes' Apology on a Drug Smuggling Story", The Washington Post, April 13, 1999
- ^ "Kennewick Man issue damages relationships", Antone Minthorn, Board of
Trustees Chairman Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation, November 5, 1998.
- ^
Fabien, Ann, Bones of Contention, <http://www.common-place.org/vol-01/no-02/kennewick/kennewick-2.shtml>. Retrieved on
2007-05-22
- ^ "Who Were The First
Americans?", Michael D. Lemonick, Andrea Dorfman,
TIME Magazine, March 13, 2006.
- ^ "All in the Family:
Who says 60 Minutes doesn't pay for interviews?", Bryan Preston and Chris Regan, National Review, April 2, 2004.
- ^
Pamela, McClintoc, '60 Minutes' times 2, <http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117905294.html?categoryid=14&cs=1>. Retrieved on
2007-05-22
Book references
- Who's Who in America 1998, "Hewitt, Don S." Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, NJ, 1998. p. 1925.
- Who's Who in America 1998, "Wallace, Mike." Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, NJ, 1998. p. 4493.
- Madsen, Axel. 60 Minutes: The Power and the Politics of America's Most Popular TV News Show. Dodd, Mead and Company:
New York City, 1984.
External links
- U.S. version
- Australian version
- New Zealand version
- France version
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