As a revamped 60 Minutes prepares for its season premiere on Sunday, the show’s former managing editor is claiming that he and others were fired after they raised objections to corporate and ideological interference.
Guy Campanile, in a post on Facebook first obtained by The Guardian, cited the correspondents and other top staffers who were terminated in May, part of a shakeup on the show. He wrote, “After some time and deep reflection, I am now comfortable and prepared to talk about it. Tanya Simon, Draggan Mihailovich, Matthew Polevoy, Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and I refused to be accomplices in the destruction of the most prestigious news program on American television.”
He added, “We would not compromise our principles or reputations by jamming unverifiable notions or White House talking points into our reporting. We objected when told to conduct interviews arranged by the administration.”
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Campanile was at the network for 34 years, including stints as executive producer of CBS Evening News and CBS News specials.
He did not write about specific examples. He added, “To be clear – we were told to leave because we insisted on doing our jobs. What has happened recently at 60 Minutes – where I believe editorial independence has become a casualty of corporate priorities and ideological intrusion – was tragic. But it was part of an inevitable progression in the cascade of afflictions that have devalued our most trusted sources of news.”
The network declined to comment. But in the face of criticisms from Pelley, Vega and Alfonsi, who cited individual incidents, the network has pushed back on claims of interference, characterizing them as part of the editorial process. In June, editor in chief Bari Weiss told The Wall Street Journal, “What’s being called ‘editorial interference’ is in reality the job description of an editor in chief.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the show unveiled a trailer for the season premiere, featuring Norah O’Donnell’s interview with the officer who was rescued in Iran after his plane was struck down. Nick Bilton, the new executive producer, told The New York Times that other changes will be part of the program, including a one-minute end segment. He also told the Times that Donald Trump is “one thousand percent” fair game, along with “everyone else in Washington, regardless of which side you’re on.”
In his post, Campanile also criticized journalism in general, writing that it has become “largely an exercise in presentation rather than examination.” He wrote, “Making matters worse is the cadre of self-described influencers and on-line opinionists who market themselves as ‘journalists.’ Some have been given control of our most precious reporting institutions, including CBS News. Many of these newsroom managers have never been exposed to the depths of poverty, the ravages of war or the heartbreak of disaster. Yet these dilettantes and their enablers make critical programming decisions based on what might trend on-line over the next few hours.” Bari Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News, is a former opinion writer for The New York Times and founder of the center-right site The Free Press.
