Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “60 Minutes” faces pressure from its corporate bosses in order to grease the wheels on a proposed merger, leading to accusations that journalistic integrity has been sacrificed on the altar of profit.
While that applies to Paramount Global’s current jockeying with the Trump administration as the company seeks approval for its $8 billion Skydance Media merger, it also describes what happened 30 years ago, when “60 Minutes” caved to CBS’ lawyers to avoid putting a roadblock in the way of its planned acquisition by Westinghouse.
At the time, it was a Mike Wallace segment on “60 Minutes,” interviewing tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, who at great personal risk exposed how his former employer, Brown & Williamson, and others in the tobacco industry had consciously sought to mislead the public about the addictive effects of nicotine and dangers of their cancer-causing products.