(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, archive)
On Monday, after footage of the event was leaked to several news outlets, the veteran TV presenter's angry speech Scott Pelley addressed to the new management, voiced at a meeting of program employees «60 minutes, spread instantly.
The first meeting of the program's new executive producer «60 Minutes» Nick Bilton with the staff had just begun when Pelley, a former anchor of the CBS Evening News and a longtime correspondent «60 Minutes» , interrupted her. Bilton, reading from prepared notes, had just stated that the CBS editor Bari Weiss «"adores 60 minutes ».
«"She's ruining 60 Minutes. She doesn't like the place. She was brought in to destroy it, and that's exactly what she's doing," Pelley interjected, according to multiple reports. "She's not qualified for this job; you're not qualified for this job either. The changes she made to the Evening News were disastrous, so why should we expect things to get better?"„
A source familiar with the situation told Mediaite that one of the reasons why the new executive producer of the program «60 Minutes» Nick Bilton What lost him the editorial staff's favor was his boasting about having numerous story ideas he wanted to implement—a move that deviated from standard practice on the news program, which had existed since the show's first executive producer Don Hewitt .
«At 60 Minutes„ "There's no centralized structure," a source told Mediaite. Hewitt doesn't pitch story ideas in advance. That's up to the team, meaning Bilton's assertion demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the show's structure. This statement raised eyebrows in the audience. The source compared the situation to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—as if someone walked into the factory and told Willy Wonka they knew how to make chocolate.
A source told Mediaite that they believe Bilton and Weiss intend to "save" 60 Minutes, but noted that they have given no indication that they have the ability to do so.
«"They'll try to save him," a source told Mediaite. "But if you're going to save him, you have to understand what's good about him, and they [the staff] 60 minutes ] They think they don't understand what's good about it, and that's the ability to tell stories.".
While television channels or daily news, as Bilton described it at the meeting, can be described as a "melting ice cube," storytelling and those who tell them are not. The room felt as if someone had invaded the space. «60 Minutes» and destroys it, while pretending that he is going to improve it.
Rumors about Weiss's absence from the meeting were dispelled by a staffer whose job it was to help Bilton adjust to his new position. The staffer claimed that Weiss was to blame for the editor-in-chief's absence.
According to the source, the prevailing discontent in the room was caused, in particular, by the constant references to the program «60 minutes »" as a "brand," as if it were a commodity rather than the result of journalistic work. Indeed, both Weiss and Bilton mentioned the show's "brand" in their announcement of the new executive producer role.
«"Nick is one of the most entrepreneurial journalists of our time and the perfect leader for one of the most entrepreneurial news brands of all time," Weiss said of her new hire.
«"60 Minutes is, without exaggeration, the most important brand of television journalism that has ever existed in this country," Bilton wrote in his introductory letter to staff.
Bilton mentioned Hewitt repeatedly in interviews following his appointment, but, according to insiders, he paid little attention to Hewitt's famous "Tell me a story" mantra. Pelley emphasized this during the meeting, chiding Bilton for mentioning the show's legendary executive producer.
«"Have you ever worked with Don Hewitt and told everyone what he thought and what inspired him?" Pelley is quoted as saying. Oliver Darcy from Status. «I worked for Don Hewitt from 1999 to 2004, and Lesley Stahl, "I probably worked with him for thirty years. I'm just curious, where do you get such a deep understanding?"»
If there was any doubt that Bilton understood the mood of those present, a source familiar with the situation told Mediaite that the jubilation that reportedly erupted after the meeting occurred shortly after the new executive producer left, when he was certainly still within earshot.
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The article "They Don't Understand": New Details of the Stunning Behind-the-Scenes Clash on "60 Minutes" First Appeared on the Mediaite Website.