David Ellison promised 60 minutes “Her editorial independence,” says Lesley Stahl.
The longtime correspondent, now 84, said: the New York Times That Paramount Skydance CEO personally confirmed this to her during a phone call on Sunday. A source familiar with the call confirms Hollywood Reporter The content of the conversation.
The reporter conveyed the promise to 60 minutes Staff on Monday told L times Tuesday. Stahl held a champagne toast at the news magazine’s offices in midtown Manhattan yesterday “in an effort to boost morale at the program,” according to the report.
“Our toast was ‘for us,’ meaning the survivors,” Stahl said via text message Tuesday. “Maybe ‘we’ with a sense of survivor guilt.”
Fellow reporter Jon Wertheim shared a short speech of his own titled “ times I mentioned. Wertheim pointed to Nick Bilton, the series’ new executive producer, and told him that he had been given “a hell of a job”, and that there were “bridges to build and fences to repair, as well as a variety of other structural tropes.”
“But there is a way here,” Wertheim told Belton.
Bill Whitaker is the only other one left 60 minutes A reporter follows the firing of top producers and reporters like Tanya Simone, Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega, and Sharyn Alfonsi. Belton immediately replaced Simon. He has never worked in television news.
Pelton told THR last month that he wants to bring in new reporters who “specialize in different fields, who are all going to be the best in their field, the best in the business, who are great storytellers, great investigators, and fearless.”
However, his short tenure started out rocky, with Bailey calling out Belton in his first staff meeting, ultimately leading to the veteran reporter being fired.
As the show looks to launch ahead of its 59th season in the fall, the three remaining anchors will need to get busy developing packages. Ellison’s guarantee of non-interference in their affairs will likely be enough.
On June 4, Pelton wrote a memo to staff in which he noted that “the first week was hell” and added: “The foundation of 60 Minutes is its journalistic independence. We will always pursue stories without fear or favor. We will always make the story our North Star — not relationships, not politics, not anything else.”
It remains to be seen whether Ellison and Pelton’s efforts to stabilize things are enough to keep viewers engaged and keep the staff from getting disgusted.
—Alex Weprin contributed to this report.
