60 Minutes
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60 Minutes is the name of several television newsmagazines, the first of which has been produced by CBS News since 1968. That show, created and made successful by producer Don Hewitt, has inspired similar shows on Australian television and New Zealand television. The shows begin and end with the image and sound of a ticking stopwatch, an image that in the 1970s became symbolic of investigative journalism on U.S. television.
The U.S. version is also broadcast on some foreign television networks and stations, and some segments are shown on American Airlines.
In 1999, a second edition of 60 Minutes was started in the U.S., called 60 Minutes II (and later renamed 60 Minutes Wednesday). It lasted until 2005.
The BBC used the name for a short-lived hour-long early-evening news programme in the 1980s.
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American 60 Minutes
The American 60 Minutes is noted for its unique style and ability to generate news and controversy. As of 2004, the program and its contributors have won a total of 75 Emmy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award presented in 2003 to creator Don Hewitt. It is one of the oldest surviving investigative journalism shows on television, having first aired in 1968.
The format 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 stories' 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. Historically, alleged wrongdoers are often made to look bad on television, and 60 Minutes is well-known for its potentially damning interviews of various people and organizations.
60 Minutes also interviews celebrities and well-known politicians on a frequent basis, documenting their history and philosophical viewpoints. These segments are rarely accusatory in the way that their more pointed investigations are.
Other themes which have been associated with the show include its "Point-Counterpoint" debate segments, which originally featured James J. Kilpatrick on the conservative side of the debate and Nicholas von Hoffman for the liberals (Shana Alexander took over von Hoffman's chair after he departed in 1974). This format was lampooned during the early years of the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live, with Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd as the debaters (Aykroyd would begin his remarks with, "Jane, you ignorant slut"); the 1980 film Airplane had a noteworthy parody of Kilpatrick in which he had a pointed comment about the passengers of an apparently doomed aircraft. The "Point-Counterpoint" segments were recently revived for a few months featuring Bob Dole and Bill Clinton.
Since 1978, the show usually ended with a 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 counting the amount of coffee (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/07/60minutes/rooney/main543240.shtml) in coffee-cans. Rooney's pieces, particularly one in which he referred to actor Mel Gibson as a "wacko," have led to complaints from viewers.
Ratings history
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 Cosby. It was a top ten show for 23 seasons in a row (1977-2000), an unsurpassed record.
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 the 1979-80 season, it was the number one show.
During the 21st century it remains among the top 20 programs in the Nielsen Ratings, and the highest-rated news magazine.
Correspondents
Mike Wallace is perhaps the iconic representation of the style of journalism for which the show is known. He's been on the show since its inception in 1968. Other correspondents include:
The program's correspondents and commentators have included:
- Ed Bradley .... Correspondent (1981-)
- Steve Kroft .... Correspondent (1989-)
- Dan Rather .... Correspondent (1975-1981)
- Harry Reasoner .... Correspondent (1968-1970, 1978-1991)
- Andrew Rooney .... Correspondent (1978-)
- Morley Safer .... Correspondent (1970-)
- Diane Sawyer .... Correspondent (1984-1989)
- Lesley Stahl .... Correspondent (1991-)
- Meredith Vieira .... Correspondent (1989-1991)
Commentators
Since 1978, Andy Rooney has contributed a humorous and sometimes cantankerous commentary at the end of each episode. Other commentators include:
- Shana Alexander .... Liberal debater (1975-79)
- Bill Clinton ... Liberal debater (2002-2003)
- Stanley Crouch .... Commentator (1996)
- Bob Dole ... Conservative commentator (2002-2003)
- Molly Ivins .... Liberal commentator (1996)
- James J. Kilpatrick .... Conservative debater (1971-79)
- P. J. O'Rourke .... Conservative commentator (1996)
- Nicholas Von Hoffman .... Liberal debater (1971-74)
Controversy
Some segments of the 60 Minutes program have drawn criticism. Conservatives question the show's journalistic integrity, particularly regarding political stories attacking conservative politicians.
One reason given by people for refusing to be interviewed by 60 Minutes is that the producers insist on reserving the right to edit the interviews.
"Unintended acceleration"
In 1986, Don Hewitt greenlit a story 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[1] (http://www.ukar.org/hewitt01.html).
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.
Brown & Williamson
In 1996, former Brown & Williamson (B&W) Vice President for Research & Development Jeffrey Wigand provided information to 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman that B&W had systematically hidden the health risks of their cigarettes. Furthermore, it was alleged that B&W had introduced foreign agents (fiberglass, ammonia, etc.) with the intent of enhancing nicotine's effects. Bergman began to produce a piece based upon the information, but ran into opposition from Don Hewitt. 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[2] (http://www.mariebrenner.com/articles/insider/man1.html). 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, starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino, entitled The Insider.
Customs Service
60 Minutes alleged in 1997 that agents for the U.S. Customs Service ignored drug trafficking across the U.S.-Mexican border at San Diego.[3] (http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005611) 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. (The Washington Post, April 13, 1999)
Killian memos
60 Minutes II received a set of documents which alleged that, while in the service of the Texas Air National Guard, President George W. Bush was declared unfit for duty, and suspended from service. Producer Mary Mapes passed the information on to CBS anchor Dan Rather, who aired the information on September 8, 2004. These documents were the source of a considerable controversy when bloggers raised doubts about their authenticity, which then spilled over into the mainstream media. CBS later admitted their "regrets" that they had "been misled" by the source of the documents, former Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett.[4] (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/06/politics/main641481.shtml) Given that Bill Burkett was a well-known nemesis of George W. Bush, accepting without much reservation any evidence from such a potentially unreliable source seemed to show either incompetence on behalf of the CBS researchers or, as speculated by Bush supporters, an active anti-Bush bias by Dan Rather and the producers of 60 Minutes II. The producer of the 60 Minutes II piece in question has a history of supporting the Democratic Party, and, after receiving the documents in question, acceeded to Mr. Burkett's request to be put in contact with the John Kerry campaign leadership before the 60 Minutes II segment was aired. Since several of the evidence experts employed by 60 Minutes II questioned the authenticity of the documents and cautioned against using them, many media watchdogs have inferred that political bias is the more likely explanation; however, the independent commission charged with investigating the incident concluded that the controlling factor was, instead, an overwhelming desire to beat other news organizations — such as USA Today, which went to press with their own Killian memos story immediately afterwards — to the "scoop".
The fallout for 60 Minutes II from running this segment greatly hurt both its credibility and that of Dan Rather. Ratings for both 60 Minutes II and CBS Evening News anchored by Dan Rather plummeted amidst the public perception that CBS was being overly stubborn and defensive about their use of documents which were widely felt to be fraudulent. Then-retired 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II creator and executive producer Don Hewitt publicly stated that it was wrong for 60 Minutes II to air the segment and it would not have aired if he had been still in control of the newsmagazine program. Many conservative pundits point to this as a prime example of a liberal bias in the US media. When CBS announced November 23, 2004 that Dan Rather would leave his position as news anchor with the network effective March 9, 2005, it was widely believed that his retirement was at least partly a consequence of the Killian memo scandal.
Viacom cross-promotion
The show has in recent years been accused of promoting books, films, and interviews with celebrities who are published or promoted by sister businesses in the Viacom empire, without disclosing the journalistic conflict-of-interest to viewers. [5] (http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/preston_regan200404020931.asp)
Video game censorship
The March 6, 2005 segment was criticized by video game players for encouraging video game censorship. The segment was discussing about Devin Thompson and the Grand Theft Auto video game series, and showing footages of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. This segment was last rerun on June 19, 2005.
Australian 60 Minutes
The Australian 60 Minutes premiered February 11, 1979. It airs on Sunday nights on the Nine Network.
The program's correspondents and commentators have included:
- Tara Brown .... Correspondent (2001-)
- Jennifer Byrne .... Correspondent (1986-1993)
- Richard Carleton .... Correspondent (1987-)
- Tracey Curro .... Correspondent (1993-1997)
- Ellen Fanning .... Correspondent (1999-2001)
- Liz Hayes .... Correspondent (1996-)
- Ian Leslie .... Correspondent (1979-1989)
- Jeff McMullen .... Correspondent (1985-2001)
- Ray Martin .... Correspondent (1979-1984)
- Mike Munro .... Correspondent (1986-1992)
- George Negus .... Correspondent (1979-1986)
- Peter Overton .... Correspondent (2001-)
- Jana Wendt .... Correspondent (1982-1990,1994)
- Charles Wooley .... Correspondent (1993-)
- Paul Lyneham .... Commentator (????-2000)
- Peter Harvey .... Commentator (2003-)
New Zealand 60 Minutes
Another version of the popular format, on the air since 1993.
See also
- This Hour Has Seven Days, which pre-dates 60 Minutes by a couple of years, was similar in journalistic style and format
- List of Australian television series
External links
- U.S. version
- Official website (http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml) from the CBS website
- History and summary (http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/60minutes/60minutes.htm) from the Museum of Broadcast Communications website
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- The End Of the Golden Age? (http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=384), a March 1999 article from American Journalism Review
- Tick, tick, tick (http://archives.cjr.org/year/01/6/1993.asp), a November/December 2001 article from Columbia Journalism Review, also available here (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3613/is_200111/ai_n8993320)
- Australian version
- Australia's 60 Minutes official website (http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/) from Nine Network
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- New Zealand version
- New Zealand's 60 Minutes official website (http://www.tv3.co.nz/listings/listing_info.cfm?display_show_info=1&show_id=2425) from the TV3 website
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