60 Minutes
Created by	Don Hewitt
Starring	See Correspondents below
Country of origin	United States
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jeff Fager
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 24, 1968 – Present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

60 Minutes is an investigative television newsmagazine on United States television, which has run on CBS News since 1968. The program was created by long time producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation. It has been among the top-rated TV programs for much of its life, and has garnered numerous awards over the years. It is considered by many to be the preeminent investigative television program in the United States. CBS Broadcasting, Inc. ... The hour (symbol: h) is a unit of time. ... 60 Minutes is the name of several television newsmagazines: 60 Minutes, a CBS News program which ran from 1968 60 Minutes II, a second edition which began in 1999 60 Minutes (Australia), which premiered in 1979 Sixty Minutes (TV series), a short-lived BBC evening news programme which ran from... In the United Kingdom, Sixty Minutes was a BBC national, international and regional news hour that ran each weekday evening from 17:40 from 24 October 1983[1] to 27 July 1984[2] on BBC One. ... Image File history File links New60minutes. ... Don Hewitt, broadcaster, born 14 December 1922. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Jeff Fager is a producer of 60 Minutes II, one of two hour-long CBS investigative journalism shows. ... CBS Broadcasting, Inc. ... is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A newsmagazine, sometimes called news magazine, is a usually weekly magazine featuring articles on current events. ... CBS News logo, used from Sept. ... Don Hewitt, broadcaster, born 14 December 1922. ...

History

Since the late-70s the opening features the Aristo stopwatch. Since October 22, 2006 the background changed to white.

The inspiration of the show came from the controversial Canadian news program This Hour Has Seven Days, which ran from 1964 to 1966. Image File history File links 60_Minutes. ... Image File history File links 60_Minutes. ... The Ancient Greek term aristocracy meant a system of government with rule by the best. This is the first definition given in most dictionaries. ... This Hour Has Seven Days was a controversial CBC Television newsmagazine, which ran from 1964 to 1966. ...

Initially, 60 Minutes aired as a bi-weekly show hosted by Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace, debuting on September 24, 1968 and alternating weeks with other CBS News productions on Tuesday evenings. Don Hewitt, who had been a producer of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, sought out Wallace as a stylistic contrast to Reasoner (Madsen, 14). According to one historian of the show, the idea of the format was to make the hosts the reporters, to always feature stories that were of national import but focused upon individuals involved with, or in conflict with, those issues, and to limit the reports' airtime to around thirteen minutes (Madsen 14). However, the initial season was troubled by lack of network confidence. Harry Reasoner (April 17, 1923 – August 6, 1991) was an American journalist known for his use of language as a television commentator. ... Mike Wallace (born Myron Leon Wallace on May 9, 1918) is a former American game show host, television personality, and journalist. ... is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963. ... Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. ...

Morley Safer joined the team in 1970, and he took over the task of reporting less aggressive stories. However, when Richard Nixon began targeting press access and reporting, even Safer began to do "hard" investigative reports, and that year alone 60 Minutes reported on cluster bombs, the South Vietnamese Army, Canada's amnesty for American draft dodgers, Nigeria, the Middle East, and Northern Ireland (Madsen 15). In 1983, Safer's report, "Lenell Geter's in Jail," single-handedly freed from prison the Texan who was wrongly convicted of armed robbery, and is, to this day, one of the program's crowning achievements. Morley Safer (born November 8, 1931 in Toronto, Canada) is a reporter and correspondent for CBS News. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Cluster bomb exploding A cluster bomb is an air-dropped bomb that ejects multiple small submunitions (bomblets). ... The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was a military component of the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam (commonly known as South Vietnam). ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: ) is a part of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...

In 1971, the "Point/Counterpoint" segment was introduced, featuring James J. Kilpatrick and Nicholas von Hoffman (later Shana Alexander), a three minute debate between spokespeople for the political right and left, respectively. This segment pioneered a format that would later be adapted by CNN for its Crossfire show. This ran until 1979, when Andy Rooney, whose commentaries were already alternating with the debate segment since the fall of 1978, replaced it; Rooney remains with the program today. James J. Kilpatrick is a conservative columnist. ... Nicholas von Hoffman is an American journalist and author of German-Russian extraction, descendant of Melchior Hoffman and son of Carl von Hoffman. ... Shana Alexander (October 6, 1925 - June 23, 2005) was an American columnist. ... Conservatism in the United States comprises a constellation of political ideologies including fiscal conservatism, free market or economic liberalism, social conservatism,[1] bioconservatism and religious conservatism,[2][3] as well as support for a strong military,[4] small government and promotion of states rights. ... Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap, yay. ... plutoniym card This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

By 1971, the FCC introduced the Prime Time Access Rule, which freed local network affiliates in the top 50 markets (in practice, the entire network) to take a half hour of prime time from the networks on Mondays through Saturdays and one full hour on Sundays. Because nearly all affiliates found production costs for the FCC's intended goal of increased public affairs programming very high and the ratings (thus advertising revenues) low, making it mostly unprofitable, the FCC created an exception for network-authored news and public affairs. After a six-month hiatus in late 1971, CBS thus found a prime place for 60 Minutes in a portion of that displaced time, 6-7 (5-6 Central) p.m. on Sundays, in January 1972 (Madsen 15). The FCCs official seal. ... The Prime Time Access Rule (PTAR) was instituted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to restrict the amount of network programming that local television stations owned by or affiliated with a network may air during prime time. The first PTAR was issued in 1970 and was implemented at the beginning...

This proved somewhat less than satisfactory, however, as, especially during the fall when CBS broadcast late National Football League games, 60 Minutes got preempted fairly frequently; football telecasts were protected contractually from interruptions in the wake of the infamous "Heidi Game" incident on NBC in November 1968. Other sporting events such as golf tournaments occasionally caused this problem also. Nonetheless, the program's hard-hitting reports attracted a steadily growing audience, particularly during the waning days of the Vietnam War and the gripping events of the Watergate scandal; at that time, few if any other major-network news shows did in-depth investigative reporting to the degree carried out by 60 Minutes. Eventually, during the summers of 1973 through 1975, CBS did allow the show back onto the prime time schedule proper, on Fridays in 1973 and Sundays the two years thereafter. NFL redirects here. ... In American football, the Heidi Game (also sometimes called the Heidi Bowl) refers to a famous 1968 American Football League (AFL) game between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders, played on November 17 in Oakland, California. ... The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... This article is about the sport. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... The Watergate scandal was a 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at a Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C. by members of Richard Nixons administration and the resulting cover-up which led to the resignation of the President. ...

It was only when the FCC returned an hour to the networks on Sundays (for children's/family or news programming), taken away from them four years earlier, in a 1975 amendment to the Access Rule that CBS finally found a viable permanent timeslot for 60 Minutes. When a family-oriented drama, Three for the Road, ended after a 13-week run in the fall, the newsmagazine took its place at 7/6 p.m. in December. It has aired at that time since, for over 31 years, making 60 Minutes not only the longest-running prime time program currently in production, but also the television program broadcasting for the longest length of time at a single time period each week. Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

This move made the program into a strong ratings hit and, eventually, a general cultural phenomenon. Within the first season, 60 Minutes became the top-rated show on Sunday nights in the U.S. By 1979, it had achieved the number-one Nielsen rating for all television programs. This success translated into great profits for CBS; advertising rates went from $17,000 per thirty seconds in 1975 to $175,000 in 1982 (Madsen 17). When TV viewers or entertainment professionals in the United States mention ratings they are often referring to Nielsen Ratings, a system developed by Nielsen Media Research to determine the audience size and composition of television programming. ...

In 1979, Channel 9 in Australia licensed a spin-off of 60 Minutes, complete with ticking clock and format, and, later, New Zealand followed suit with its own 60 Minutes. 60 Minutes is the name of a television newsmagazine show currently broadcast in New Zealand on TV3. ...

At 88 years old, Mike Wallace is not only the oldest television personality today (being four months older than Helen Wagner), but one who has lasted the longest with one news show continuously, having been a part of 60 Minutes since its inception in 1968. On March 14, 2006, Wallace announced his retirement from 60 Minutes after 37 years with the program. He continues to work for CBS News as a "Correspondent Emeritus". Helen Wagner Helen Wagner (born September 3, 1918) is an American actress. ... is the 73rd day of the year (74th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

As of 2007, 60 Minutes is the only regularly scheduled television program without any type of theme music. The only theme sound is from the signature Aristo stopwatch in the opening title credit and in the credit immediately before each commercial break. The theme music of a radio or television program is a piece that is written specifically for that show and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits. ... The Ancient Greek term aristocracy meant a system of government with rule by the best. This is the first definition given in most dictionaries. ... A stopwatch is a timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when activated to when the piece is deactivated. ...

Format

The format of 60 Minutes consists of three long-form news stories, without superimposed graphics. The stories are introduced from a set which has a backdrop resembling a magazine story on the same topic. The show undertakes its own investigations and follows up on investigations instigated by national newspapers and other sources.

Many topics center on allegations of wrongdoing and corruption on the part of corporations, politicians, and other public officials. Said figures are commonly either subjected to an interview, or evade contact with the 60 Minutes crew altogether, either by written notice or by simply fleeing from the approaching journalist and his camera crew. Instead of summarizing an interview or providing direct commentary on an issue, 60 Minutes prefers to air the interview itself. When the subject is hiding a secret, the viewers witness the evasion directly.

The show also features profiles. The profiles are occasionally of celebrities and offer up a biography of the figure, focusing upon the celebrity's early life story, obstacles, and choices, rather than offering a simple publicity platform. Non-celebrity profiles usually feature a person who has accomplished an heroic action or striven to improve the world. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In tone, 60 Minutes blends the probing journalism of the seminal 1950s CBS series See It Now with Edward R. Murrow (a show for which Hewitt was the director its first few years) and the personality profiles of another Murrow program, Person to Person. In Hewitt's own words, 60 Minutes blends "higher Murrow" and "lower Murrow." See It Now was a television newsmagazine and documentary broadcast by CBS in the 1950s. ... April 8, 1956: CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow talking to reporters during a stop in Wiesbaden, Germany. ...

For most of the 1970s, the program included the Point/Counterpoint segment in which a liberal and a conservative commentator would debate a particular issue. This originally featured James J. Kilpatrick representing the conservative side and Nicholas von Hoffman for the liberals, with Shana Alexander taking over for von Hoffman after he departed in 1974. Although discontinued in 1979, when Andy Rooney, who had previously left the show with Harry Reasoner, returned to offer commentary, the segment was an innovation that caught the public imagination as a live version of competing editorials. Point/Counterpoint was also lampooned by the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live, which featured Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd as debaters, with Aykroyd typically beginning his remarks with, "Jane, you ignorant slut", and in the motion picture Airplane!, in which the faux Kilpatrick argues in favor of the plane crashing. Nicholas von Hoffman is an American journalist and author of German-Russian extraction, descendant of Melchior Hoffman and son of Carl von Hoffman. ... Shana Alexander (October 6, 1925 - June 23, 2005) was an American columnist. ... plutoniym card This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into articles entitled Editorial and Op-ed. ... The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... This article is about the American television series. ... Jane Curtin - Promo Picture from 3rd Rock from the Sun Jane Therese Curtin (born September 6, 1947) is an American actress and comedian, from Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... Daniel Edward Aykroyd CM (born July 1, 1952) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning Canadian/American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and musician. ... Airplane! is an American comedy film, first released on 27 June 1980, produced, directed, and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. ...

A similar concept was revived briefly in March 2003, this time featuring Bob Dole and Bill Clinton, former opponents in the 1996 presidential election. The pair agreed to do ten segments, which were called "Clinton/Dole" and "Dole/Clinton" in alternating weeks, but did not continue into the fall television season. Reports indicated that the segments were considered too gentlemanly, in the style of the earlier Point/Counterpoint, and lacked the feistiness of Crossfire.^[1] § Robert Joseph Dole (born July 22, 1923) was a United States Senator from Kansas from 1969-1996, serving part of that time as United States Senate Majority Leader. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ...

Since 1979, the show has usually ended with a (usually light-hearted or humorous) commentary by Andy Rooney expounding on topics of wildly varying import, ranging from international politics, to economics, and to personal philosophy on every-day life. One recurring topic has been measuring the amount of coffee in coffee cans.^[2] Rooney's pieces, particularly one in which he referred to actor Mel Gibson as a "wacko," have on occasion led to complaints from viewers. Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson AO (born January 3, 1956) is an American born Australian actor, director, and producer. ...

On Sunday, October 29, 2006, the opening sequence changed from a black background to white. The black background had been used for over a decade.

Correspondents

Mike Wallace is perhaps the iconic representation of the style of journalism for which the show is known and has been on the show since its inception in 1968. Wallace retired in 2006, but remains as Correspondent Emeritus and retains an office at CBS News Headquarters. Mike Wallace (born Myron Leon Wallace on May 9, 1918) is a former American game show host, television personality, and journalist. ...

The program's correspondents and commentators have included:

• Morley Safer (1970–present)
• Steve Kroft (1989–present)
• Lesley Stahl (1991–present)
• Bob Simon (1996–present)
• Scott Pelley (2003–present)

Part-time: Morley Safer (born November 8, 1931 in Toronto, Canada) is a reporter and correspondent for CBS News. ... Steve Kroft is an American journalist. ... Lesley R. Stahl (born December 16, 1941, in Lynn, Massachusetts) is an American television journalist. ... Bob Simon is a CBS News correspondent. ... -- Consumed Crustacean | Talk | 22:01, 23 May 2006 (UTC) Categories: ...

• Lara Logan (2005–present)
• Katie Couric (2006-present)
• Anderson Cooper (2006-present)

Lara Logan (born March 29, 1971) is a television journalist for CBS News in the United States. ... Katherine Anne Katie Couric (born January 7, 1957) is an American media personality who became well-known as co-host of NBCs Today. ... Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an Emmy Award winning American journalist, author, and television personality. ...

Past correspondents

• Ed Bradley (1981–2006)^[3]
• Mike Wallace (1968–2006)^[4] — Correspondent Emeritus
• Harry Reasoner (1968–1970, 1978–1991)
• Christiane Amanpour (1996-2005)
• Dan Rather (1975–1981, 2005–2006)
• Diane Sawyer (1984–1989)
• Meredith Vieira (1989–1991)

Edward Rudolph Bradley, Jr. ... Mike Wallace (born Myron Leon Wallace on May 9, 1918) is a former American game show host, television personality, and journalist. ... Harry Reasoner (April 17, 1923 – August 6, 1991) was an American journalist known for his use of language as a television commentator. ... Christiane Amanpour, CBE (born January 12, 1958) (in Persian: ) is the chief international correspondent for CNN. // Shortly after her birth in London, her British mother Patricia, and her father Mohammed, an Iranian airline executive, moved the family to Tehran. ... Daniel Irvin Rather, Jr. ... Diane Sawyer is a television journalist for the U.S. network ABC News and co-anchor of ABCs Good Morning America, along with with Robin Roberts. ... Meredith Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an Emmy Award-winning American television personality, game show hostess and journalist. ...

Commentators

Since 1978, Andy Rooney has contributed a commentary at the end of episodes. Other commentators include: plutoniym card This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

• James J. Kilpatrick (Conservative debater, 1971–1979)
• Shana Alexander (Liberal debater, 1975–1979)
• Nicholas Von Hoffman (Liberal debater, 1971–1974)
• Bill Clinton (Liberal debater, 2003)
• Bob Dole (Conservative debater, 2003)
• Stanley Crouch (Commentator, 1996)
• Molly Ivins (Liberal commentator, 1996)
• P. J. O'Rourke (Conservative commentator, 1996)

James J. Kilpatrick is a conservative columnist. ... Shana Alexander (October 6, 1925 - June 23, 2005) was an American columnist. ... Nicholas von Hoffman is an American journalist and author of German-Russian extraction, descendant of Melchior Hoffman and son of Carl von Hoffman. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... § Robert Joseph Dole (born July 22, 1923) was a United States Senator from Kansas from 1969-1996, serving part of that time as United States Senate Majority Leader. ... Stanley Crouch (born December 14, 1945, Los Angeles) is an American music critic, syndicated columnist, and novelist perhaps best known for his jazz criticism and his novel Dont the Moon Look Lonesome? // During the early 1970s, Crouch moved from California to New York City, where he lived along with... Molly at the 2005 DemocracyFest, Austin TX Mary Tyler Molly Ivins (August 30, 1944 – January 31, 2007) was an American newspaper columnist, political commentator, and best-selling author from Austin, Texas. ... P.J. ORourke speaks at a January 2007 event at the Cato Institute about his latest book. ...

Ratings and recognition

Based on ratings, 60 Minutes is the most successful broadcast in U.S. television history. For five of its seasons it has been that year's top program, a feat only matched by the sitcoms All in the Family and The Cosby Show. It was a top ten show for 23 seasons in a row (1977-2000), an unsurpassed record.^[5] This article is about a genre of comedy. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom starring Bill Cosby, first broadcast on September 20, 1984 and ran for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992. ...

60 Minutes first broke into the Ratings Top 20 during the 1976-77 season. The following season it was the fourth-most-watched show, and by 1979-80, it was the number one show.^[5] During the 21st century it remains among the top 20 programs in the Nielsen Ratings, and the highest-rated news magazine.^[6] When TV viewers or entertainment professionals in the United States mention ratings they are often referring to Nielsen Ratings, a system developed by Nielsen Media Research to determine the audience size and composition of television programming. ...

CBS has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Peabody Awards for the segments "All in the Family", an investigation into abuses by government and military contractors; "The CIA's Cocaine", which uncovered CIA involvement in drug smuggling; "Friendly Fire", a report on incidents of friendly fire in the Gulf War; and "Duke Rape Suspects Speak Out", the first interviews with the suspects in the 2006 Duke University lacrosse team scandal.^[7] They received an Investigative Reporter and Editor medal for their segment "The Osprey", documenting a Marine coverup of deadly flaws in the V-22 Osprey helicopter. In 2007, 60 Minutes received twelve Emmy Awards nominations. ^[8] The George Foster Peabody Awards, more commonly referred to as the Peabody Awards, are annual international awards given for excellence in radio and television broadcasting. ... Friendly fire or non-hostile fire, a term originally adopted by the United States military, is fire from allied or friendly forces, as opposed to fire coming from enemy forces or enemy fire. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... The 2006 Duke University lacrosse team scandal began in March 2006 when a stripper claimed that she had been raped by three unidentified members of the Duke University mens lacrosse team. ... The V-22 Osprey is a joint service, multimission, military tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing capability (STOL). ... An Emmy Award. ...

Controversies

The show has been praised for landmark journalism and received many awards. However, it has also become embroiled in some controversy, including:

William Westmoreland

In the 1982 "The Uncounted Enemy, a Vietnam Deception," which Mike Wallace narrated for CBS Reports, the news division's documentary program, it was reported that William Westmoreland, former commander of American military operations in the Vietnam War, withheld information from decision-makers in Washington for political reasons. Westmoreland held a press conference a few days later, calling it a 'preposterous hoax,' and eventually sued for libel. TV Guide issued a report called 'Anatomy of a Smear,' detailing problems with the report, including the ignoring of contrary evidence, and video editing to change the questions Westmoreland is asked. Westmoreland withdrew the suit a few days before the protracted case was given to the jury. He and CBS News issued a joint statement in which CBS said it "does not believe that General Westmoreland was unpatriotic or disloyal in performing his duties as he saw them." Westmoreland claimed a victory; CBS, in a separate statement, said nothing in the trial changed its stance that the report was "fair and accurate." William C. Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was an American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak from 1964 to 1968 and who served as US Army Chief of Staff from 1968 to 1972. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... TV Guide is the name of two North American weekly magazines about television programming, one in the United States and one in Canada. ...

Unintended acceleration

On November 23, 1986, 60 Minutes aired a segment greenlit by Don Hewitt, concerning the Audi 5000 automobile, a popular German luxury car. The story concerned a number of incidents where the car purportedly accelerated without warning while parked, injuring or killing people. 60 Minutes was unable to duplicate this behavior, and so hired an outside consultant to modify the transmission to behave in this manner, and aired a story about it. is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... To greenlight a project, in the context of the movie business, is to formally approve production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to pre-production and, barring disasters, principal photography. ... Audi 100 in California The Audi 100 was a mid-sized automobile from Audi that was made between 1968 and 1994. ...

The incident devastated Audi sales in the United States, which did not reach the same level for another fifteen years. The initial incidents which prompted the report were found by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Transport Canada to have been attributable to operator error, where car owners had depressed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal. CBS issued a partial retraction, without acknowledging the test results of involved government agencies.^[9] The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, often pronounced nit-suh) is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government, part of the Department of Transportation. ... Transport Canada is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada. ...

A rival to 60 Minutes, Dateline NBC, would be found guilty of similar tactics years later regarding fuel tank integrity on General Motors pickup trucks. Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC similar to ABCs 20/20 or CBSs 60 Minutes. ... General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), also known as GM, is an American automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Vauxhall. ...

Alar

In February, 1989 60 Minutes aired a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council highlighting problems with Alar, a chemical sprayed on apples. Apple sales dropped and CBS was sued by apple growers. ^[10] The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) [1] is a leftist, New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles. ... Daminozide (trade name Alar) is a pesticide sprayed on apples to regulate their growth, make their harvest easier, and enhance their color. ...

Werner Erhard, March 3rd, 1991

A 60 Minutes broadcast of March 3, 1991 dealt with controversies involving Werner Erhard's personal and business life : is the 62nd day of the year (63rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Werner Hans Erhard (born John “Jack” Paul Rosenberg on September 5, 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), [11] became arguably best known to the general public for the programs he set up: the “est Training” (1971 – 1981) and the “Forum” (1981 – 1991). ...

Perhaps the most damaging blow of all against Erhard was a March 3 "60 Minutes" television report that detailed testimony from three of his daughters, several former EST leaders, and a housekeeper. Together, they accused Erhard of being a tyrant and a cult leader who declared himself to be God at staff meetings, administered a savage beating to his son, ordered his ex-wife nearly strangled to death during a two-day beating, and sexually molested one of his daughters and raped another. This article does not discuss cult in its original sense of religious practice; for that usage see Cult (religious practice). ...

The "60 Minutes" report also detailed that Erhard had bailed out of his $70-million-a-year business. Published reports say he sold his human-potential movement empire in February to a group of his employees for an undisclosed sum and put most of his possessions (including the yacht where he lived in Sausalito harbor) up for sale. The San Jose Mercury News, speculating that Erhard may have fled the country, quoted a witness who said he watched three men load boxes and steamer trunks from Erhard's warehouse into a Tokyo Express moving van.^[11] The Mercs sections vary by day of the week, but Business, Sports, and The Valley are standard daily fare. ...

In his 1993 book Outrageous Betrayal published by St. Martin's Press, Steven Pressman detailed how Erhard filed but then withdrew a lawsuit alleging "false, misleading and defamatory statements" against CBS in the wake of the latter's 60 Minutes program:^[12] Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile is an Investigative journalism biography of Werner Erhard by Steven Pressman. ... Headquartered in the legendary Flatiron Building in New York City, St. ... Steven Pressman is an American legal journalist, freelance journalist, and author. ...

One year after the "60 Minutes" piece aired, Erhard filed a lawsuit against CBS and a variety of other defendants, claiming that the broadcast contained several "false, misleading and defamatory" statements about Erhard. However, Erhard dropped the lawsuit a few months before any court decision had been reached on its claims.^[12] CBS Broadcasting, Inc. ...

Author Jane Self defended Werner Erhard's position in the 1992 Breakthru Publishing book, 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard. Jane Self (1947 - ) is author of the book 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard. ... 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard is a biography of Werner Erhard by Jane Self. ...

Brown and Williamson

In 1995, former Brown and Williamson (B&W) Vice President for Research and Development Jeffrey Wigand provided information to 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman that B&W had systematically hidden the health risks of their cigarettes. (See transcription.) Furthermore, it was alleged that B&W had introduced foreign agents (fiberglass, ammonia, etc.) with the intent of enhancing the effect of nicotine. Bergman began to produce a piece based upon the information, but ran into opposition from Don Hewitt who, along with CBS lawyers, feared a billion dollar lawsuit from Brown and Williamson. Interestingly, a number of people in CBS would benefit from a sale of CBS to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, including the head of CBS lawyers and CBS News. Also, because of the interview, the son of the President of CBS Laurence Tisch, was among the people from the big tobacco companies in the risk of being caught having committed perjury. Brown & Williamson is an American tobacco company, which produces cigarette brands. ... Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (born December 17, 1942, New York City) was vice president of research and development at Brown & Williamson in Louisville, Kentucky and currently resides in Mt. ... Lowell Bergman (born July 24, 1945) is an investigative reporter with The New York Times and a producer/correspondent for the PBS documentary series Frontline. ... Two unlit filtered cigarettes. ... Altria Group, Inc. ... Bundle of fiberglass Fiberglass (also called fibreglass and glass fibre) is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. ... For other uses, see Ammonia (disambiguation). ... Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants (Solanaceae), predominantly in tobacco, and in lower quantities in tomato, potato, eggplant (aubergine), and green pepper. ... Westinghouse logo (designed by Paul Rand) The Westinghouse Electric Company, headquartered in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, is an organization founded by George Westinghouse in 1886. ... Laurence Alan Tisch (born March 5, 1923, died November 15, 2003) was a Wall Street investor and self-made billionaire. ... Big Tobacco is the nickname that is often applied to the big three tobacco corporations in the United States. ...

Because of the hesitation from Hewitt, The Wall Street Journal instead broke Wigand's story. The 60 Minutes piece was eventually aired with substantially altered content, and was missing some of the most damning evidence against B&W. The exposé of the incident was published in an article in Vanity Fair by Marie Brenner, entitled The Man Who Knew Too Much.^[13] The New York Times wrote that 60 Minutes and CBS had "betrayed the legacy of Edward R. Murrow." The incident was turned into a seven-times Oscar-nominated feature film entitled The Insider, directed by Michael Mann and starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is an international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company in New York City, New York, USA, with Asian and European editions, and a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million as of 2006, with 931,000 paying online subscribers. ... An exposé is an article or book intended to reveal shocking or surprising information. ... American actress Demi Moore, on a typical Vanity Fair cover (August, 1991) Vanity Fair is a glossy American glamour magazine monthly that offers a mixture of articles based on sensational exaggerations, jet-set and entertainment-business personalities, politics, and lies. ... The Man Who Knew Too Much was an influential article on Tobacco industry Whistle-Blower Jeffrey Wigand written by journalist Marie Brenner for the May 1996 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... April 8, 1956: CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow talking to reporters during a stop in Wiesbaden, Germany. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Insider is a 1999 film which tells the true story of a 60 Minutes television series exposé of the tobacco industry, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand. ... Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943 in Chicago) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. ... Russell Ira Crowe (born April 7, 1964) is a New Zealand-Australian[1] actor. ... Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is a renowned and influential Academy Award, four time Golden Globe, AFI, two time BAFTA, Emmy Award, and two time Tony Award-winning American stage and film actor who played such iconic roles as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Trilogy and Tony Montana...

U.S. Customs Service

60 Minutes alleged in 1997 that agents of the U.S. Customs Service ignored drug trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border at San Diego.^[14] The only evidence was a memorandum apparently written by Rudy Camacho, who was the head of the San Diego branch office. Based on this memo, CBS alleged that Camacho had allowed trucks belonging to a particular firm to cross the border unimpeded. Mike Horner, a former Customs Service employee, had passed the memos on to 60 Minutes, and even provided a copy with an official stamp. Camacho was not consulted about the article, and his career was devastated in the immediate term as his own department placed suspicion on him. In the end, it turned out that Horner had forged the documents as an act of revenge for his treatment within the Customs Service. Camacho successfully sued CBS for an unknown settlement, and Don Hewitt was forced to issue an on-air retraction.^[15] The United States Customs Service (now the United States Customs and Border Protection Service or CBP) was the portion of the US Federal Government dedicated to keeping illegal products outside of US borders. ... Retail selling Street selling is the bottom of the chain and can be accomplished through purchasing from prostitutes, through cloaked retail stores or refuse houses for users in the act located in red-light districts which often also deal in paraphernalia, dealers marketing merriment at night clubs and other events... The international border between Mexico and the United States runs a total of 3,141 km (1,951 miles) from San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the east. ... “San Diego” redirects here. ... “Lorry” redirects here. ...

Kennewick man

A legal battle between archaeologists and the Umatilla tribe over the remains of a skeleton, nicknamed Kennewick man, was reported on by 60 Minutes (October 25, 1998), to which the Umatilla tribe reacted very negatively. The tribe considered the segment heavily biased in favor of the scientists, cutting out important arguments, such as explanations of Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.^[16] The report focused heavily on the racial politics of the controversy and also added inflammatory arguments, such as questioning the legitimacy of Native American sovereignty^[17] -- much of the racial focus of the segment was later reported to be unfounded or misinterpreted.^[18] Categories: Native American tribes | Stub ... The reconstructed face of the Kennewick Man. ... The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (or NAGPRA) is a United States federal law passed in 1990 requiring that Native Americans cultural items be returned to their respective peoples if and when they have been excavated, and allows archeological teams a short time for analysis before the remains...

Viacom cross-promotion

In recent years the show has been accused of promoting books, films, and interviews with celebrities who are published or promoted by sister businesses in the Viacom empire (2000-2005), without disclosing the journalistic conflict-of-interest to viewers.^[19] However, due to media consolidation, this has become standard practice on many television news broadcasts. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) (NYSE: VIAb) is an American media conglomerate with various worldwide interests in cable and satellite television networks (MTV Networks and BET), and movie production and distribution (the Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks movie studios). ... Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation or media convergence) is a commonly used term among media critics, policy makers, and others to characterize ownership structure of media industries. ...

60 Minutes II

Main article: 60 Minutes II

In 1999, a second edition of 60 Minutes was started in the U.S., called 60 Minutes II. This edition was later renamed 60 Minutes by CBS for the fall of 2004 in an effort to sell it as a high-quality program, since some had sarcastically referred to it as 60 Minutes, Jr. CBS News president Andrew Heyward said, "The Roman numeral II created some confusion on the part of the viewers and suggested a watered-down version".^[20] However, a widely-known controversy which came to be known as "Rathergate," regarding a report that aired September 8, 2004, caused another name change. The show was renamed 60 Minutes Wednesday both to differentiate itself and to avoid tarnishing the Sunday edition, as the editions were editorially independent from one another. The show reverted to its original title with Roman numerals on July 8, 2005, when the show moved to a Friday night 8pm ET timeslot to finish its run. Its last broadcast was on September 2, 2005. 60 Minutes II, also known as 60 Minutes Wednesday and 60 Minutes (see #Name changes), was a weekly primetime newsmagazine television program intended to replicate the signature style, journalistic quality and integrity of the original 60 Minutes series. ... Andrew Heyward - Former President of CBS News Andrew Heyward is a former President of CBS News, serving from January of 1996 until early November 2005. ... The Killian documents (often referred to as the CBS documents during the 2004 US presidential campaign) were memos purportedly written by the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian. ... is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

International versions

Australia

Main article: 60 Minutes (Australia)

The Australian 60 Minutes premiered on February 11, 1979. It airs on Sunday nights on the Nine Network. 60 Minutes premiered February 11, 1979. ... is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... The Nine Network, or Channel Nine, is an Australian television network based in Willoughby, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney. ...

Reporter Richard Carleton suffered a heart attack on 7 May 2006. He asked a question at a news conference for the Beaconsfield mine collapse, then walked out and suffered cardiac arrest. Paramedics tried to revive him for 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived, but was pronounced dead on arrival. is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location of Beaconsfield The Beaconsfield mine collapse occurred on April 25, 2006 in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, Australia. ... An ambulance in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico A Helicopter used as an Ambulance. ...

Although they have the rights to the format, as of 2007 they do not have rights to the US stories. Nevertheless, they often air them by subleasing them from Network Ten. Network Ten, or Channel Ten, is one of Australias three commercial television networks, available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in Australia. ...

In 1980 60 minutes won a Logie award for their investigation of lethal abuses at Chelmsford psychiatric hospital in Sydney. This article is about the CBS news magazine. ... The Logie Awards are the Australian television industry annual awards. ... For other uses, see Chelmsford (disambiguation). ... This article is about the metropolitan area in Australia. ...

New Zealand

Main article: 60 Minutes (New Zealand)

The New Zealand version of 60 Minutes has aired on national television since 1989, when it was shown on TV3. In 1992 the rights were acquired by TVNZ, who began broadcasting it in 1993. The network aired the program for nine years before dropping it in 2002 for its own program, entitled Sunday. Sunday is currently the highest rating current affairs show broadcast on New Zealand television, followed by 20/20. 60 Minutes is now broadcast by rival network TV3. 60 Minutes is the name of a television newsmagazine show currently broadcast in New Zealand on TV3. ... TV3 is a commercial television station in New Zealand. ... Current TVNZ logo Television New Zealand (TVNZ) is the main broadcaster of television in New Zealand, established in 1980 through the merger of Television One and TV2 (formerly South Pacific Television). ... This article is about the television show. ...

Portugal

The Portugal version of 60 Minutes airs on SIC Notícias and is hosted by Mário Crespo.

France

The France version of 60 Minutes is titled 66 Minutes and airs on M6 Métropole 6, known popularly as simply M6, is a French television service owned by a company called Métropole Télévision. ...

Other versions

• There was a briefly-lived Mexican version in the late 1970s.
• There was also a Peruvian version in the early 1980s, called 60 minutos. However, in the late 1980s also existed a similarly named series, but unrelated to the CBS News show.
• In 2004, Brazil's Rede Bandeirantes planned a licensed localized version, but the plan was canceled.

See also

• This Hour Has Seven Days, which pre-dates 60 Minutes by a couple of years, was similar in journalistic style and format

This Hour Has Seven Days was a controversial CBC Television newsmagazine, which ran from 1964 to 1966. ...

References

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. ... is the 126th day of the year (127th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... plutoniym card This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... CBS News logo, used from Sept. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... CBS News logo, used from Sept. ... is the 73rd day of the year (74th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Christian Research Institute (also popularly known as CRI) is one of the largest Evangelical Christian apologetics ministries of the world. ... Werner Hans Erhard (born John “Jack” Paul Rosenberg on September 5, 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), [11] became arguably best known to the general public for the programs he set up: the “est Training” (1971 – 1981) and the “Forum” (1981 – 1991). ... Steven Pressman is an American legal journalist, freelance journalist, investigative journalist and biographer. ... Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile is an Investigative journalism biography of Werner Erhard by Steven Pressman. ... Headquartered in the legendary Flatiron Building in New York City, St. ... American actress Demi Moore, on a typical Vanity Fair cover (August, 1991) Vanity Fair is a glossy American glamour magazine monthly that offers a mixture of articles based on sensational exaggerations, jet-set and entertainment-business personalities, politics, and lies. ... John Fund Born 1957 in Tucson, Arizona. ... The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is an international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company in New York City, New York, USA, with Asian and European editions, and a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million as of 2006, with 931,000 paying online subscribers. ... is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C.. It is also one of the citys oldest papers, having been founded in 1877. ... is the 103rd day of the year (104th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Flag of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is a federally recognized confederation of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla. ... is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... is the 72nd day of the year (73rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... National Review (NR) is a biweekly magazine of political opinion, founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. ... is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Book references

• Who's Who in America 1998, "Hewitt, Don S." Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, NJ, 1998. p. 1925.
• Who's Who in America 1998, "Wallace, Mike." Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, NJ, 1998. p. 4493.
• Madsen, Axel. 60 Minutes: The Power and the Politics of America's Most Popular TV News Show. Dodd, Mead and Company: New York City, 1984.

External links

• U.S. version
  • History and summary from the Museum of Broadcast Communications website
  • The End Of the Golden Age?, a March 1999 article from American Journalism Review
  • Tick, tick, tick, a November/December 2001 article from Columbia Journalism Review, also available here
• Australian version
  • Australia's 60 Minutes official website from Nine Network
  • 60 Minutes (Australia) at the Internet Movie Database
• New Zealand version
  • New Zealand's 60 Minutes official website from the TV3 website
  • 60 Minutes (New Zealand) at the Internet Movie Database
• France version
  • France's 66 Minutes official website from the M6 website.

RTFM The Museum of Broadcast Communications is located in Chicago, Illinois. ... The American Journalism Review is a national magazine covering topics in journalism. ... The Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) is an American magazine for professional journalists published bimonthly by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. ... The Nine Network, or Channel Nine, is an Australian television network based in Willoughby, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... TV3 is a commercial television station in New Zealand. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... Métropole 6, known popularly as simply M6, is a French television service owned by a company called Métropole Télévision. ...