There's a new effort to restore order at 60 Minutes, days after the show's internal tensions spilled into public view. New executive producer Nick Bilton on Thursday named Maria Gavrilovic, a longtime producer for recently fired correspondent Scott Pelley, as a senior producer and tried to reassure a rattled staff in a letter acknowledging "a trying and difficult few days." Bilton said he's been in extensive talks with the three remaining correspondents, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and Jon Wertheim, calling them "core" to the show's future, reports the Wall Street Journal. "Audiences trust them because they have proved it, story by story, for decades," he wrote. "Working with them is a privilege and every journalist's dream." All three are debating whether to jump ship, reports the New York Times.
The moves follow a rapid shake-up driven by CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss under Paramount CEO David Ellison. In recent days, correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were shown the door, and Pelley was dismissed for cause after publicly challenging Bilton's experience and criticizing Weiss' leadership at a staff meeting. Pelley later accused new management of "wreaking havoc" and meddling in stories for political reasons, claims a CBS spokesperson flatly denied, saying there is no political interference and that editorial pushback is routine.
Bilton backed up that sentiment in his letter, per the Hollywood Reporter, writing that "We will never be instructed by the ownership of the company on those stories." Bilton, a first-time leader of a weekly TV news show, replaced Tanya Simon and now faces the task of steadying CBS' flagship newsmagazine ahead of its 59th season.
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