New York Times writer Ross Douthat named ’60 Minutes’ correspondent
Ross Douthat, a longtime conservative voice on the New York Times op-ed page, has been hired as full-time correspondent on “60 Minutes.”
Douthat is the first full-time correspondent named to the venerable CBS News magazine program since it underwent a massive shake-up last spring.
His hiring was announced Tuesday.
CBS News executives are trying to fill several correspondent roles after veterans Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and executive producer Tanya Simon were fired by CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss.
Anderson Cooper turned down a new deal to continue as a contributing correspondent.
Douthat, 46, is not frequently seen on television.
He hosted a video podcast, “Interesting Times,” for the New York Times opinion section which explored religion and politics.
On “60 Minutes,” he will become the most prominent conservative voice on a broadcast news network.
Douthat has been with the Times opinion page since 2009, when he replaced conservative columnist Bill Kristol.
The Times section is where Weiss first made her name as anti-woke contrarian before she launched the like-minded digital news site the Free Press, which was acquired last year by CBS News parent Paramount.
Weiss was hired as editor in chief of CBS News in October with a mandate from Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison to pull the network more to the political center. The hiring of Douthat addresses that desire.
Nick Bilton, whom Weiss hired as executive producer of “60 Minutes,” also named three contributors to the program.
- Author and filmmaker Sebastian Junger, 64, who wrote “The Perfect Storm” and covered the Afghanistan war for ABC News. He is a Peabody Award winner.
- Gianna Toboni, 39, a former correspondent for Vice News who most recently was a reporter for CNN. She will also be a CBS News national correspondent.
- Trevor Phillips, 72, a British journalist who joined CBS News earler this year as a senior global affairs correspondent. He also worked in British politics.
Several internal names are still being considered for full-time and contributor roles on the program. They include “CBS Sunday Morning” veteran Seth Doane, national correspondent Matt Guttman and foreign correspondent Holly Phillips. “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Doukopil is also expected be a contributor.
Veteran correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Norah O’Donnell and Jon Wertheim are also returning to the program, which begins its 58th season on Sept. 13.
The internal discord at “60 Minutes” followed a highly successful season where its ratings increased by 9% according to Nielsen.
But there was turmoil throughout the season as Weiss fired Alfonsi and Vega — both of whom complained that the executive pushed them to add right-wing talking points to their stories.
In response to the firings, Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” the program and claimed she was putting “her thumb on the scale” for more favorable coverage of President Trump’s administration.
Pelley was shown the door with cause after confronting management over the firings at a June 1 meeting.
