Ross Douthat, the conservative New York Times columnist will join CBS News‘ “60 Minutes,” along with author Sebastian Junger, new CBS News correspondent Trevor Phillips and filmmaker Gianna Toboni, the Paramount Skydance news division announced Tuesday, a move that will remake the look and feel of the venerable newsmagazine at a time when it has been under intense scrutiny.
Norah O’Donnell, a familiar face to CBS News viewers, will also take up more duties with the program, according to Nick Bilton, the series’ new executive producer, who offered details in a memo to staffers.
Douthat, Junger, Phillips and Toboni are “entrepreneurial journalists who understand how to reach modern audiences,” Bilton said. “Between them, they have written books and magazine articles, produced documentaries, TV shows and podcasts, hosted live events and built brands on independent platforms.”
The question facing them now, of course, is can the new hires keep CBS viewers engaged during 12-to-13-minute long video segments that air on broadcast TV?
The foursome are meant to replace a group of longtime correspondents who were ousted by Bari Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News, in a bid to make the program more interesting for modern viewers. Weiss believes the program is in dire need of a shake-up and needs to be made more relevant to digital audiences and younger viewers. In late May, she replaced Tanya Simon, the show’s previous executive producer, along with correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich. Scott Pelley left soon after following a clash with Bilton. Anderson Cooper chose to leave the program earlier in the year, ostensibly because he has been wary of the direction CBS News has taken under Weiss, an opinion journalist who has often worked to get more time for Trump administration officials and provocative voices and experts.
CBS News injects the untested coterie into the program alongside three veterans: Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker. All three opted to stay despite the way management gutted the program, seemingly with little regard for its recent accomplishments. In an era when more TV viewers are streaming away from old-school appointment television, “60 Minutes” in its most recent season saw overall viewers increase by 9%.
Whether the new group will be accepted by audiences or colleagues remains to be seen. Both Douthat and Phillips have most recently expressed themselves with commentary and opinion columns, while the bulk of “60 Minutes” is meant to feature hard, investigative reportage or deep feature journalism. Phillips, for example, is a former British politician who has become known as a free-speech advocate, but has also generated controversy for remarks he has made about British Muslims and has been accused of Islamophobia. Douthat has argued against abortion, and written books on the decline of religion in the U.S.
Junger and Toboni seem to be more in the traditional “60 Minutes” vein. Junger, the author of books such as “The Perfect Storm” and “Tribe,” has studied regions in conflict for years, as well as the effect of serving in war on soldiers. Toboni has been involved in dozens of documentaries that have been seen on HBO, Showtime and VICE. Among the topics she has covered are political corruption in Mexico and unnecessary gynecologic surgeries on migrant women in ICE custody.
The new group assembles under pressure. The 59th season of “60 Minutes” is slated to debut September 13. In normal times, correspondents try to bank a piece before taking time off in July. Because of the abrupt overhaul of the program, however, there have been fewer staffers and producers to develop stories and segments.
More to come…
