They’re staying.
Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said in a memo Friday that they would remain at “60 Minutes,” potentially calming the chaotic situation that has festered at the CBS News program since the ouster of top producers and three of the program’s correspondents, including executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich, as well as Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, and, more recently, Scott Pelley.
“We have decided to stay on,” the trio said.
But their misgivings over what has happened at the venerable newsmagazine in the past week were made clear. “We have had a hard time deciding whether to stay at’ 60 Minutes.’ We’re still deeply upset by the firings of Tanya and Draggan, strong leaders who everyone respected. As far as we can tell – because no explanation has ever been offered, they were expelled because they fought for our ’60 Minutes’ values and stood up to protect our independence and integrity,” the three journalists said. “Newsrooms are not supposed to be run like dictatorships. Collaboration and argument are the way we have always worked at ’60.’ Don Hewitt actually encouraged loud passionate advocacy for our pieces.”
More to come…
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