"Confrontation is not a dirty word. Sometimes it’s the best kind of journalism as long you don’t confront people just for the sake of a confrontation." ~ Don Hewitt
A man who has dedicated his life to the best kind of journalism, Don Hewitt (1922-2009), dropped out of college and took a copy boy job at two New York newspapers.
A war correspondent and AP editor, Hewitt joined CBS in 1948. He parlayed his knowledge and experience into becoming the creator, executive producer, and dynamo behind TV's popular news show, 60 Minutes
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"We were the first ones that made news profitable," said the broadcasting legend who changed the face of television...and journalism...forever.
On this day in 1968, Hewitt, along with the ticking stopwatch intro, launched America's first and longest-running newsmagazine program. "This broadcast has made--I don't know the exact figure, but it's north of a billion and a half, and it's a little bit south of two billion on 30 years," Hewitt said in a 1999 interview.
Through the years as a trusted source of information and winner of umpteen awards, 60 Minutes has hogged the Sundays 7 p.m. ET/PT timeslot. With "hard-hitting investigative reports, interviews, feature segments and profiles," the show's correspondents through the years have included: Dan Rather, Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Ed Bradley, and Andy Rooney.
About success and truth, the cornerstones of 60 Minutes, Rather once said, "The dream begins with a person who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth.'"
