“60 Minutes” is set to return for its 59th season this Sunday following a high-profile shakeup over the summer under new executive producer Nick Bilton and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
On Tuesday, the newsmagazine unveiled its official cast of correspondents in Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Jon Wertheim, Norah O’Donnell and Ross Douthat, along with contributors Matt Gutman, Sebastian Junger, Gianna Toboni, Trevor Phillips and Ariel Levy.
The group photo was taken by Mark Seliger at New York City’s Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, in reference to the program’s broadcasting history. “These images are a perfect homage to CBS News’ broadcast beginnings where Cronkite and Murrow reported the news as we head into the 59th season of which set the foundation for 60 Minutes,” EP Bilton told CBS News.
“60 Minutes” also teased an upcoming premiere segment about a U.S. Air Force officer who was rescued from Iran. Watch that video sneak peek, below.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Bilton assured his fellow journalists that stories on President Donald Trump would “one thousand percent” be fair game, in addition to “everyone else in Washington, regardless of which side you’re on.”
“Over the summer, we’ve made changes to every aspect of the broadcast to make it stronger,” he told The News York Times in an interview out Tuesday. “While each of those changes represents a slight departure from the way it’s been done in the past, it will make for a new approach to ‘60 Minutes’ in its totality.”
His comments came months after the exits of Scott Pelley, executive producer Tanya Simon and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, among others in the newsroom.
“The stress is like a snow globe that has settled, and I can see exactly what we have to do,” Bilton added. “I‘ve never felt more that I’m in the right place doing the right job than I do right now.”
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