Tick... Tick... Tick... (34 page)

 

If it was a coincidence that all this happened in the first few months after Don Hewitt's retirement from
60 Minutes
, it was a happy one for Hewitt. Alternately angry at Rather and gleeful over his tribulations, Hewitt mostly struggled with the muzzle supplied by CBS News in return for his 10-year, $1-million-a-year consultancy. As penance for that sweet deal, Hewitt had to agree in writing not to publicly criticize CBS in any way—a supremely frustrating arrangement for a man accustomed to criticizing everyone and everything except himself. He now sits alone in his palatial office on the eighth floor, one flight below the chaos he left behind, in a muffled high dudgeon over the failures of CBS News and of his successors. He has no one to scream at anymore; the correspondents don't call, don't stop by his office, and don't seek his opinion much. Hewitt knows that none of this would have happened on his watch; he would never have believed the documents, not for a second.

But it's too late to change history, and Hewitt sits by idly watching as the reputation of the show he created and nurtured suffers mortal blows. It turns out that CBS could not have exacted a worse punishment for Hewitt than the contractual silence the network demanded from its lion in winter, his roar now gone forever as he sees his kingdom fade away.

Note on Sources

This narrative account of the history of
60 Minutes
incorporates more than
100
in-person interviews with present and former producers, correspondents, support personnel, and executives connected with the broadcast, as well as others who worked alongside Don Hewitt at CBS in the years that preceded its premiere in
1968
. I depended—for my narrative almost exclusively—on first-hand accounts provided to me by producers, executives, camera operators, editors, researchers, and secretaries associated with
60 Minutes
. I also had the good fortune to interview every living correspondent of
60 Minutes
, including Diane Sawyer and Meredith Vieira. All except Lesley Stahl agreed to meet me for an in-person interview, and most of the current team of correspondents met with me several times over two years for lengthy interviews.

I gathered extensive recollections from Andy Rooney, Walter Cronkite, Arthur Bloom (the show's original director), Sandy Socolow (a former
CBS Evening News
executive producer and colleague of Hewitt's), Gordon Manning (a former CBS News executive who worked with Hewitt, and who later became president of NBC News), Av Westin (a young CBS News producer in the
1960
s, later executive producer of ABC's competing show,
20
/
20
), Bob Chandler (the first CBS News executive in charge of
60 Minutes
, and a close adviser in the planning stages), Joseph Wershba (one of the show's first producers, and producer of the legendary Edward R. Murrow
See It Now
broadcast about Sen. Joseph McCarthy), Barry Lando (Mike Wallace's former star producer, now living in Paris), and Lowell Bergman (Mike Wallace's former star producer, now living in Berkeley).

I also benefited from extended interviews with the current and former leadership team of
60 Minutes
. I had several long sessions with Hewitt, almost all in his office at
60
Minutes
or in his screening room. They tended to be exasperating experiences. Hewitt has lived the last half-century as a first-hand observer of television history, but he chooses to remember only selective moments from his own thrilling past—and to repeat those moments incessantly to visitors who've heard them dozens of times. Hewitt has his endearing qualities, but one of them is not the gift of introspection. I was fortunate to meet several times with his lieutenant, Josh Howard, and with his immediate CBS News boss, Betsy West. Jeffrey Fager, and his deputy, Patti Hassler, both spoke to me at length and with remarkable candor about their recollections. I also received regular historical perspective provided by Phil Scheffler, who'd worked at
60 Minutes
off and on from the beginning, and who'd been Hewitt's number-two for more than two decades. Andrew Heyward met with me for several hours over two years to share details of his experiences with 60
Minutes.

To confirm facts and to draw on the occasional historical detail, I also used several books, articles, and memoirs that chronicled various parts of the show's history from a first-hand point of view.
Tell Me a Story
by Don Hewitt (Public Affairs;
2002
) proved an invaluable resource, in particular the chapters concerning Hewitt's early years, as did his earlier memoir,
Minute by Minute
(Random House;
1985
). In cases where Hewitt's verbal retelling of his life story differed from his written account, I've chosen his memoir as the definitive version. In cases where the two memoirs offered differing accounts, I've used his
2002
memoir as the definitive source, except as noted in the text. Thus the facts and dialogue used in the telling of several key anecdotes in Hewitt's early life depend heavily on his published account—in particular, details of his upbringing, the blackboard discovery at the
1952
convention that led to the creation of the super, the near-theft of the NBC truck in Iowa during the Khrushchev visit to an Iowa farm in
1959
, and his dealings with Dan Rather concerning Abraham Zapruder on November
22, 1963
. I have also used the books as a reference for key facts and dates from his early years as a journalist, and as a factual backup on later incidents at
60 Minutes
.

Similarly, Mike Wallace's memoir,
Close Encounters
(William Morrow;
1984
) offers a detailed account of several important moments in Wallace's life, as recalled with the help of his collaborator, Gary Paul Gates. I have used his written recollections as a source on his early years in broadcasting, the death of his son Peter, and his journey through television news to the staff of
60 Minutes
. Lesley Stahl's memoir,
Reporting Live
(Simon & Schuster;
1999
), provided the factual basis for my narrative of her pre–
60 Minutes
life, as well as the discussion of her relationship with her mother. Dan Rather's memoirs (written with collaborator Mickey Herskowitz) were valuable chronicles of key moments in his career:
The Camera Never Blinks
(William Morrow;
1977
) and
The Camera Never Blinks Twice
(William Morrow;
1994
). The former covered details of Rather's early life and career, in particular his conflicts with Richard Nixon and his early years at CBS, and the latter included a detailed account of his
1980
Afghanistan piece for
60 Minutes
that contributed information to my narrative.
Before the Colors Fade
, by Harry Reasoner (Alfred A. Knopf;
1981
) proved a valuable account of Reasoner's career at CBS and
60
Minutes
.

Two important, independent histories of CBS News helped to establish the context of Hewitt's rise and that of
60 Minutes
:
Air Time: The Inside Story of CBS News
by Gary Paul Gates (Harper & Row;
1978
) and
Who Killed CBS?: The Undoing of America's Number One News Network
by Peter J. Boyer (Random House;
1988
). The memoir of deceased CBS News president William Leonard,
In the Storm of the Eye: A Lifetime at CBS
(Putnam;
1987
), included detail and dialogue contained in the account of Walter Cronkite's departure as anchorman, and his replacement by Dan Rather, as well as Leonard's version of the start-up of
60 Minutes.
A CBS-approved history of
60
Minutes,
60
Minutes:
25
Years of Television's Finest Hour
(General Publishing Group;
1993
), was a handy resource for facts and details.

Also helpful were
The Decade That Shaped Television News: CBS in the
1950
s,
by CBS News president Sig Mickelson (Praeger;
1998
), and
Salant, CBS and the Battle for the Soul of Broadcast Journalism: The Memoirs of Richard S. Salant,
edited by Susan and Bill Buzanberg (Westview Press;
1999
). I also owe a considerable debt to the reporting of Elsa Walsh, whose thorough analysis of Meredith Vieira's struggles at
60 Minutes
were included in her fascinating book,
Divided Lives: The Public and Private Struggles of
3
Accomplished Women
(Simon & Schuster;
1995
). I also depended on
We're Going to Make You a Star,
by Sally Quinn (Simon & Schuster;
1975
) for Quinn's account of her sexual-harassment by Hewitt.

The television beat reporters and critics from the
New York Times
from the
1950
s through
2004
—Jack Gould, John O'Connor, Peter J. Boyer, Peter Kaplan, Jeremy Gerard, Tony Schwartz, Sally Bedell Smith, Lawrie Mifflin, Jim Rutenberg, and Bill Carter—provided a contemporaneous and valuable record of many significant events in
60 Minutes
history. A January
1978
profile of
60
Minutes
in
Rolling Stone
by Donovan Moore offered useful perspective, as did Harry Stein's look at the show in May
1979
for the
New York Times Magazine
. Mark Hertsgaard's insightful May
1991
Rolling Stone
article, “The Sixty-Minute Man,” proved particularly helpful, as did Susan Steinberg's informative
1998
American Masters
documentary,
“
90
Minutes on
60 Minutes
.” “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” by Marie Brenner in the May
1996
Vanity Fair
, offered a comprehensive account of the Wigand controversy. Of additional help were “Fast & Flawed,” Howard Kurtz's account of Ed Bradley's interview with Kathleen Willey in the August
1998
Brill's Content,
and “Real to Reel,” D. M. Osborne's report on the
60
Minutes—
Jeffrey Wigand controversy in the July/August
1999
Brill's Content
.

The new afterword incorporates some material drawn from testimony in the January
5, 2005,
“Report of the Independent Review Panel.” That three-month independent investigation (by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, retired Associated Press editor Louis D. Boccardi, and a team of Washington lawyers) was paid for by CBS, and purports to be a thorough record of the events surrounding the September
8, 2004,
“For the Record” story on
60
Minutes Wednesday
about President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service, produced by Mary Mapes and reported by Dan Rather.

Index

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ABC News, 50–51, 113–14, 118, 128, 136–37, 153, 175–77, 206, 208, 221, 241

Abercrombie & Fitch story, 275

access rule, FCC, 83

Afghanistan story, 129–33

afternoon talk shows, 145–46

age

of audience, 206, 218, 236, 274–75

of correspondents, 235–36

Don Hewitt's, 243, 245–46

Agnew, Spiro, 63

AIDS, 180, 182, 185–86

Ailes, Roger, 243

Air Time
(book), 294

Alexander, Shana, 123–24

Allied Chemical story, 94–96

Amanpour, Christiane, 218, 230

ambush interviews, 32–33, 77–82.
See also
hidden-camera stories

“anchorman” term, 14

Anders, William, 102–5

Anderson, Robert, 186

Andrea Doria
sinking story, 17

anthrax story, 40

anti-busing story, 57–60

Arledge, Roone, 114, 128, 175, 178

Atkinson, Brooks, 32

audience age, 206, 218, 236, 274–75

Aykroyd, Dan, 123–24

 

Barfield, Velma, 161

Barzini, Luigi, 37

Bass, Saul, 38, 47

Beard, Dita, 63–64

Beatty, Warren, 160

Before the Colors Fade
(book), 294

Bellows, James G., 153

Benjamin, Burton, 149

Bennett, Bob, 225–26

Bergen, Candice, 227–28

Berger, Marilyn, 117, 120

Bergman, Ingrid, 144–45

Bergman, Lowell, 189, 206–15

Bettag, Tom, 216

Better Government Association, 107–11

Bingham, Wade, 133–36

biological weapons story, 40

blackboard idea, 13–14

Black Panther Party story, 49

Blanchet, Patricia, 257

Bloom, Arthur, 42

Blue Sheet proposals, 56, 115

“Book, The,” 42

Boyd, Gerald, 253

Boyer, Peter, 156, 168, 294, 295

Bradlee, Ben, 57, 74

Bradley, Bill, 218

Bradley, Ed

age of, 236

background of, 125–27

conflicts and, 138–39, 169, 211–12

health of, 255, 266, 271, 290

Don Hewitt and, 2, 5, 242, 273

Anita Hill story, 201–3

Lena Horne story, 139–40

Michael Jackson story, 280–89

Trevor Nelson and, 261

salary of, 205, 237

Phil Scheffler and, 255–57

stories of, 189, 229–30, 273, 275

Kathleen Willey story, 77, 221–27

braille, Don Hewitt's ideas about, 12

Brenner, Marie, 214, 295

Brinkley, David, 15, 18, 22, 44

Brodsky, Joseph, 141

Brooks, James L., 152

Broun, Heywood Hale, 46

Brown & Williamson story, 206–15

Brynner, Yul, 11

Buchwald, Art, 37

Buffett, Warren, 229

Burke, David, 177–78, 179, 182–83

Bush, Laura, 230

busing story, 57–60

Buzanberg, Susan and Bill, 295

 

Calendar
(show), 34

Calley, William, Jr., 48

Camera Never Blinks, The
(book), 294

Camera Never Blinks Twice, The
(book), 129, 294

cameras

close-up, 20–21, 66–67

film, 23, 44

hidden, 107–11, 133–36, 186–87

reverse-angle shots, 71, 152–53

Carson, Johnny, 121–22

Carter, Bill, 209–10, 295

Carter, Graydon, 270

Carter, Jimmy, 126

Carville, James, 198, 250

Casablanca
(movie) story, 143–45

Casa Verdi story, 171

catholicism, Kennedy's, 19–20

CBS News.
See
60
Minutes

CBS Morning News
, 34, 74, 156

CBS Evening News
, 18–24, 34, 85–87, 145, 180, 216–17, 232–33

CBS Reports
, 87, 115, 126–27, 133, 147–49

censorship of tobacco industry story, 206–15, 259

Don Hewitt's first jobs at, 10–14

Don Hewitt's firings by, 1–6, 24–26, 234–52, 290–92

Don Hewitt's idea to buy, 167–68

Michael Jackson agreement, 281

junket story and, 79

lawsuits against, 65, 149, 151–53, 163–64

mandatory retirement exemptions, 149

network competition and, 15–17, 23–24, 34, 145–46 (
see also
ratings)

newsmagazine shows, 206

payments for interviews, 80–82

Andy Rooney's suspension, 182–83

sexual harassment and, 76–77

strike against, 172–73

takeover of 60
Minutes
for Iraq War coverage, 231–33

Chandler, Bob, 29

Charlie Rose
(show), 211

Cheney, Dick, 262

Chernobyl story, 185

Childers, Frankie Teague, 25, 73

child pornography story, 134–35

children, Vieira and, 178, 188–92

children's shows, 83–84, 111

Chung, Connie, 206, 217

“chyron” technique, 13–14

Claiborne, Craig, 43

Clark, Ramsey, 37

Clarke, Richard, 290

Cleaver, Eldridge, 49

Clinton, Bill, 2, 77, 197–200, 221–27, 249–50, 291

Clinton, Hillary, 198–200

clock ticking sound, 42

Close Encounters
(book), 30, 81, 149, 294

close-up camera technique, 20–21, 66–67

Cobb, Buff, 31–32

Cohen, Richard, 191

Cohn-Bendit, Daniel, 46

Collingwood, Charles, 149

Collins, Marva, 122–23

Collyer, Ellen, 102–3

Colson, Charles, 80

commercials, 112, 119, 175, 274

competition

between correspondents (
see
conflicts)

network, 15–17, 23–24, 34, 145–46

Sunday-night time slot, 153–54, 206

conflicts

correspondents and, 115–17, 138–39, 141–43

Don Hewitt and, 2, 53, 55, 115, 139, 142–43

Don Hewitt and Mike Wallace, 2–3, 5–6, 53, 55–56, 113, 147, 164, 212–14, 258–60, 275–77, 290–92

over producers, 138–39, 142, 169–70, 180

Dan Rather and, 87, 116

Harry Reasoner and, 115

Morley Safer and, 53–55, 116–17

Mike Wallace and, 53–55, 115–17

confrontational journalism, 32–33, 77–82.
See also
hidden-camera stories

conventions, political.
See
political conventions

Coolidge, Priscilla, 127

correspondents.
See also
Bradley, Ed; Kroft, Steve; Rather, Dan; Reasoner, Harry; Rooney, Andy; Safer, Morley; Sawyer, Diane; Stahl, Lesley; Vieira, Meredith; Wallace, Mike

competition between (
see
conflicts)

Phil Scheffler's firing and, 238–39

Don Hewitt's firing and, 1–6, 237–38

producers and, 39, 45, 56 (
see also
producers)

salaries of (
see
salaries)

as stars, 45, 70–71, 111, 120, 175–76, 187

Corry, John, 166

Costas, Bob, 164

costs, 39, 50, 83–84, 119, 175, 249

Cotton, Debra, 158–59

Crandall, John, 98

credit, producers and, 71–72

Crile, George, 147–49, 192

criticism

Afghanistan story, 132–33

first 60
Minutes
seasons, 39, 48

Susan Molinari, 218–19

news-gathering techniques, 105–6, 111, 137

payment for stories, 80–82, 91–94

racist comments, 146–47, 181–83

Point-Counterpoint segment, 250

60
Minutes II
, 241

of Mike Wallace, 33

West
57
th
, 166

Who's Who
, 113

Kathleen Willey story, 226

Cronkite, Walter, 9–10, 12, 14, 18–24, 27, 79, 86, 127–28, 182

Crouch, Stanley, 218

Curtin, Jane, 123–24

 

Dateline NBC
(show), 206, 217–19

Davis, Suzanne, 5

Day, Lorraine, 180

Day One
(show), 208

Dean, John, 81

debates, Kennedy-Nixon, 20–21

Decade That Shaped Television News, The
(book), 295

Delaney, Geraldene, 108

Democratic Party.
See
political conventions

demographics, 206, 236, 274

Denmark, David, 186

depression, Mike Wallace's, 111–12, 163–65

Devine, Frank, 198

Dickinson, Angie, 34

Diekhaus, Grace, 227–28

Divided Lives
(book), 178, 295

Dobyns, Lloyd, 153–54

Dole, Bob, 198, 249–50

Donahue, Phil, 145

Douglas Edwards and the News
(show), 11, 15–18

Dowd, Maureen, 218–19

Downs, Hugh, 114

draft resisters story, 47, 60–61

Duff, Gertrude, 60–61

Duke and Duchess of Windsor, 46

Dumbrow, Walter, 107–11

 

Edwards, Douglas, 11–12, 15–18, 258

Ehrlichman, John, 66–67, 86

Ellerbee, Linda, 190

Elliott, Osborn, 272

Ellsberg, Daniel, 80

Emmy Awards, 53, 83, 177, 262, 266–68

entertainment, news as, 23, 28–29, 33

entrapment issue, 97–111

“evergreen” stories, 44

Eye to Eye with Connie Chung
(show), 206, 217

 

Fager, Jeffrey

on correspondents and Reasoner, 192

as Don Hewitt's successor, 3, 234, 241, 243, 246–47, 250–52, 278, 291

on Michael Jackson story, 289

Steve Kroft and, 180–81

60
Minutes II
and, 214, 221, 282

fake IDs story, 97–101, 137

family programming, 83–84, 111

Fanning, Win, 79

farewell party, Don Hewitt's, 1–6, 290–92

Farrow, Mia, 27

Fauntroy, Walter, 58–60

Federal Communications Commission access rule, 83

Felker, Clay, 68

Ferrugia, John, 166

film, 23, 44

Fine, Paul and Holly, 185

Finkelstein, Shari, 270

Finn, George, 171

firings, Don Hewitt's, 1–6, 24–26, 234–52, 290–92

Flowers, Gennifer, 197–200

football, 54, 84, 197, 205–6, 275

Ford, Henry, 29

Fortenberry, James, 157

48
Hours
(show), 180, 206, 217

48
Hours Investigates
(show), 4, 282

Fox News, 205, 243

Frank, Reuven, 153