'60 Minutes' is a TV news powerhouse brand. Can it withstand Trump pressure?

For astir six decades, determination person been fewer media institutions arsenic durable and respected arsenic the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes.”

Even arsenic accepted assignment TV viewing fades, “60 Minutes” remains the astir watched quality program, approaching 10 cardinal viewers successful immoderate weeks, according to Nielsen data.

Correspondent roles connected the programme are the astir coveted positions successful TV journalism. Its profoundly reported stories person power successful an property erstwhile different mainstream quality outlets’ clout has diminished successful a fragmented media landscape.

But “60 Minutes” present faces an unprecedented crisis.

This week, the programme mislaid its enforcement producer, Bill Owens, lone the 3rd idiosyncratic to clasp the occupation successful the show’s storied history. His farewell enactment to unit cited interference from the firm owner, Paramount Global, which is seeking regulatory clearance from the Trump medication to implicit an $8-billion merger with Skydance Media.

Clouding the deal, which requires support by the Federal Communications Commission, is President Trump’s $20-billion suit against CBS implicit the program’s October interrogation with then-Vice President Kamala Harris up of the 2024 statesmanlike election. The lawsuit goes earlier a mediator adjacent week.

Trump alleges the programme was deceptively edited to favour Harris, a complaint that 1st Amendment experts accidental is spurious. But Shari Redstone, controlling shareholder of Paramount Global, and the Skydance partners privation to wide the ineligible obstacle to adjacent their deal, adjacent if it means a settlement.

A Paramount Global typical declined to comment.

“60 Minutes” erstwhile enforcement shaper Bill Owens, left, with correspondents Bill Whitaker and Lesley Stahl.

(Rick Loomis / For the Times)

The unit of “60 Minutes” was shaken by Owens’ departure. But nary 1 is expected to travel him retired the door, mostly due to the fact that it would beryllium seen arsenic giving successful to Trump, said 1 longtime subordinate of the programme who was not authorized to remark publicly.

In the abbreviated term, Owens’ exit is not apt to alteration the hard-charging journalistic values of the program, arsenic galore of his lieutenants stock his ethos. Executive exertion Tanya Simon, who is moving the programme connected an interim basis, is the girl of the precocious Bob Simon, a well-known analogous for the program.

“She is 1 pugnacious cookie,” said Tom Bettag, a erstwhile web quality shaper who worked connected the programme and is present a lecturer astatine the Merrill School of Journalism astatine the University of Maryland. “The troops respect her.”

While Owens cited firm interference, determination was small grounds of it connected the screen.

“60 Minutes” remained dogged successful covering the archetypal 100 days of the 2nd Trump presidency, with captious reports connected the administration’s handling of Ukraine and the vertebrate flu outbreak. The programme brought unneurotic a Marine Corps set that was dissolved arsenic portion of the administration’s purge of diversity, equity and inclusion programs successful the military.

“60 Minutes” staffers recognition the thrust of Owens, a 25-year seasoned of the program, to get pugnacious Trump stories connected the air.

CBS executives not authorized to remark noted that “60 Minutes” has a agelong past of operating independently and Owens was apt not utilized to the further oversight implemented successful caller months.

Former CBS News president Susan Zirinsky was enlisted past autumn to oversee standards astatine the quality part aft Redstone became irritated implicit immoderate of the network’s sum of the Israel-Hamas war, including a “60 Minutes” portion that criticized erstwhile President Biden’s handling of the conflict.

But the larger fearfulness astatine “60 Minutes” is that the institution volition settee the suit with an apology and outgo to Trump.

Any willingness to placate the president could person the “60 Minutes” journalists and producers looking implicit their shoulders arsenic they effort to bash their jobs.

Confidence, swagger and adjacent a spot of arrogance are portion of what made “60 Minutes” a TV quality powerhouse since 1968. Those characteristics whitethorn beryllium undercut by uncertainty implicit firm support, making it hard to aggressively screen the Trump White House.

“People privation to enactment astatine CBS News and particularly astatine ’60 Minutes’ due to the fact that they privation to enactment successful a spot that volition basal up and combat for themselves,” Bettag said. “I person students who look astatine ’60 Minutes’ and accidental ‘that’s the benignant of idiosyncratic I privation to be.’”

“60 Minutes” has been subjected to firm unit successful the past erstwhile web owners were progressive successful merger talks.

When Laurence Tisch owned CBS and was looking to merchantability the institution to Westinghouse successful 1995, the web killed a “60 Minutes” communicative that featured baccy manufacture whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, a erstwhile Brown & Williamson enforcement who revealed that its cigarettes contained additives to boost the nicotine that keeps smokers hooked.

Brown & Williamson threatened CBS with a lawsuit, claiming the interrogation would interfere with Wigand’s confidentiality statement with the company. Under orders from its ineligible department, ‘’60 Minutes’’ did not broadcast the interrogation oregon aerial Wigand’s astir damaging charges until aft the Wall Street Journal reported connected a deposition helium gave successful different case.

The struggle was dramatized successful the 1999 Michael Mann movie “The Insider” and stained the program’s stellar reputation.

“60 Minutes” survived that occurrence and maintained its stature arsenic the golden modular of TV journalism. In caller years, the programme has dominated investigative journalism successful premier clip arsenic its competitors “Dateline” connected NBC and “20/20” connected ABC person moved exclusively into telling existent transgression stories.

What is baffling radical who person worked connected the programme is wherefore Paramount Global oregon Skydance would privation to hazard damaging the worth of an plus that continues to make millions successful nett for the web and provides enviable stature.

“I commune they backmost disconnected and spot that determination would beryllium existent glory successful speaking up and supporting ’60 Minutes,’ which is genuinely a nationalist treasure,” Bettag said. “It is besides a currency cattle and it has an individuality for a network, which is genuinely important.”