What I remember the most fondly in my early days as a young producer at “60 Minutes” was the pure excitement and drama in the offices and editing rooms across the street from the Broadcast Center on West 57th. There was a creative tension and anticipation around what stories were running each week—stories that had survived the relentless screening process of endless cuts and recuts. I learned everything there was to know about television journalism in that glorious place. For 58 years, the country has watched “60 Minutes” in greater numbers than any other weekly news program ever on television.
What I hope Bari Weiss, the new editor-in-chief of CBS News, comes to understand more quickly now, after her current “debacle” with her colleagues there is this: Before you postpone a 60 Minutes segment because its reporting “was flawed and incomplete,” take a walk over to the editing room and share your thoughts directly with Sharyn Alfonsi and the team along with the executive producer Tanya Simon face to face. Spend an hour and a half or so talking through your concerns and listening to all of theirs.
Ms. Weiss said in a statement last week: “Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason… happens every day in every newsroom.”
Reading those words reminds me of the often quoted Peter Drucker, considered the inventor of modern management: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Change and disruption is good for any organization, but respecting the culture is essential for those changes to take hold.