Posted on 04/23/2004 11:53:43 AM PDT by Pikamax
Spending 60 minutes with Don Hewitt Commentary: Newsmagazine creator no political bias
By Jon Friedman, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 12:01 AM ET April 23, 2004
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Don Hewitt, the executive producer and creator of the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes," says he is leaning toward voting for presidential candidate John Kerry.
"I would bet I'll probably vote for Kerry," Hewitt said late Wednesday afternoon during an hour-long interview in his office on West 57th Street. "But I don't know that yet."
Although Hewitt, 81, is widely recognized as one of the giants of television news, he pretty much sounded like just another skeptical, undecided American voter during our conversation.
"I know why I don't want to vote for George Bush," Hewitt said. "But I don't know why I want to vote for Kerry. I don't know who he is."
Hewitt laments the outbreaks of terrorist attacks that have occurred since the U.S. invaded Iraq 13 months ago. "If I should hold anything against George Bush," Hewitt said, it was that the invasion "created more terrorists."
Hewitt was careful to stress that he had no Democratic or liberal political leanings. "I don't vote parties," he said. "I'm an Eisenhower-Reagan Republican and a Roosevelt-Kennedy Democrat."
Recognizing the potential influence of "60 Minutes" on the American electorate, Hewitt said pointedly that he was "not in anybody's pocket."
As it has done regularly since its debut in 1968, "60 Minutes" has broken news and created ample controversies so far this year.
It aired explosive segments featuring interviews with former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, former terror advisor Richard Clarke and Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward. Each of them wrote a bestseller that was regarded as being critical of the Bush administration's foreign policy in Iraq.
The accumulation of bad news appears to have taken a toll on Hewitt's spirits. During the Great Depression and the Cuban missile crisis, he said, "I never doubted for a second that we'd survive. Now I'm not so sure. I'm scared."
Legacy
In June, Hewitt will relinquish his executive producer post to Jeff Fager, the executive producer of "60 Minutes II."
In January 2003, CBS announced that Hewitt would have new duties as the executive producer, CBS News, helping to develop and launch projects.
"There is no way to overstate what Don Hewitt has meant to CBS," Leslie Moonves, president and chief executive officer of CBS, said at the time. "There aren't too many people who have literally created standards by which an entire industry has operated. Don has done all of that and more."
Perhaps the only television news executive who could have been mentioned in the same breath as Hewitt was the late ABC visionary, Roone Arledge, who created "Nightline" and revolutionized sports and news broadcasting.
"His career spans much of the history of network television news," said New Yorker media critic Ken Auletta. "His legacy is `60 Minutes' and making a successful television news magazine show -- but that's much too simple. There are negatives to this legacy, as he has acknowledged."
In 1960, Hewitt helped change how TV networks cover politics when he produced the first televised presidential debate, between candidates John Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
"I deserve more blame than credit," Hewitt mused. "That's the night that ruined American politics. That's the night that TV and politics got engaged."
Controversies
Over the years, "60 Minutes" has faced many controversies, ranging from criticism by the tobacco industry to the show's recent failure to point out that Viacom, CBS's parent (VIA: news, chart, profile), was also the owner of a company that published a book featured on "60 Minutes."
Auletta called the attribution debacle a "very tiny misdemeanor." (Viacom is also a significant investor in MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this report.)
Plus, in its April 19 issue, Broadcasting and Cable, a trade publication, said a report on "60 Minutes" may wind up costing the CBS affiliate in Harrisburg, Pa., more than $100,000 in advertising because of a report on the financing policies of auto dealerships.
CBS News told the publication that it "values strong relationships with the CBS-owned stations and affiliates and respects their relationship with their advertisers. However, this was a valid and newsworthy story."
Further, it could be argued that Hewitt helped spawn the genre of TV news magazines and unwittingly sparked the rise of tabloid journalism.
"His genius was that he understood that (an audience) needed to relate to the people AND the interviewers," Auletta said. "It became `Travels with Mike' and `Travels with Morley,' etc.," Auletta added, referring to two enduring "60 Minutes" stars, journalists Mike Wallace and Morley Safer.
Hewitt suspects that CBS wanted to bring in a new executive producer because the network was "not happy with the demographics" of "60 Minutes."
Auletta suggested that it wasn't "unreasonable" for CBS to want to bring in new blood. "At some point, you have to develop new talent," Auletta said. "Fager has a history with serious news."
On a roll
The ageless "60 Minutes" has been on a roll, underscoring the vitality of the program even after all these years. Since October, it has featured interviews with such newsmakers as imprisoned former ImClone leader Sam Waksal, pop star Michael Jackson, as well as Washingtonians O'Neill, Clarke and Woodward.
"Don hasn't lost a lot off his fastball," said Auletta. "Those were remarkable shows."
Ed Bradley's interview with Michael Jackson drew 18.8 million viewers, pushing "60 Minutes" to the top of the ratings as the singer defended himself against molestation accusations. It marked the first time that the program, which the Associated Press has said "generally has one of the oldest audiences on television," was ranked No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings since 1998.
Plus, the show has sparked lively water-cooler chatter in other ways. Former star linebacker Lawrence Taylor revealed on "60 Minutes" that pro football players were known to try to weaken opponents by providing women for them on the night before crucial games.
By allowing ordinary people and celebrities alike to tell their own stories (with occasional sharp prodding from the likes of Mike Wallace), Hewitt has created a blueprint for presenting compelling profiles on TV.
The program's vintage pieces on stars and icons ranging from Lena Horne (one of Hewitt's all-time favorite segments) to Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones have informed and entertained millions of viewers for decades.
Hewitt mused that an interview he long hungered after for the show -- but never got -- was with Pat Nixon, the former President's wife, who died in 1993. Hewitt explained that he wanted to feature her because her husband had always been such a "mystery."
An hour with Hewitt goes by all too fast.
Unfortunately for me, it was time for us to quit talking just as he was recounting a chat he had had with Robert Kennedy.
Hewitt said he was sitting with the New York senator at Kennedy's Virginia home some time after the murder of President Kennedy. Hewitt asked Kennedy the question that has haunted America since that dark day in Dallas in 1963:
"Do you know who killed the President?" Hewitt asked him.
"What difference does it make?" Hewitt said Kennedy told him. "It's not going to bring him back."
Robert Kennedy himself was assassinated in 1968, just as he was on the verge of gaining the Democratic nomination for president.
Among the people who appealed to Hewitt to appear on "60 Minutes" over the years was a woman claiming she had been the mistress of President Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.
The lady didn't get her 15 minutes of fame, though, because Hewitt wasn't convinced that she was telling him the truth.
"There is a difference between telling someone's story at cocktail parties and putting someone on the air," Hewitt said.
I have a suggestion for "60 Minutes," One of these days, please air an interview with someone who has done it all in television and can tell fascinating stories while mixing wit with reflection. The guest's name is Don Hewitt.
MEDIA WEB QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU LIKE - OR DISLIKE - ABOUT "60 MINUTES?"
Please send your reply to JFriedman@MarketWatch.com
"I would bet I'll probably vote for Kerry," Hewitt said late Wednesday afternoon during an hour-long interview in his office on West 57th Street. "But I don't know that yet."
Well Duh...
10 grand says he never voted for Reagan
The best thing about "60 Minutes" is that I don't have a TV.
And I would be the last time Hewitt voted GOP was in 1956.
It is not shocking becuase we knew it.
What is absolutely shocking and why the presses need to be stopped is that he and his other media friends try to tell us of their so-called "independence". Then he says this statement about who he is likely going to vote for in public. Thus, he "cements" what people like Rush and others have been saying all along - Hewitt et. al. are the "Partisan Press".
What a dishonest Bas!ard
hawk
p.s. - I suspect the reason why Hewitt uses the word "leaning" is just in case JFingK is tossed at the convention since JFK seems to be self-destructing right now.
Right. THAT's what started it all. Invading Iraq.
Good grief . . .
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