CBS News is stirring controversy with an unexpected personnel move. Ross Douthat, a well-known columnist for the New York Times, has been hired as a correspondent for the network’s flagship news magazine, 60 Minutes. His arrival marks a significant shift for the show, which is now under new leadership and faces a changing lineup. Douthat takes the place of long-time contributors like Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega, and Sharyn Alfonsi, who have left the program in recent weeks. The decision has already sparked reactions ranging from confusion to outright disbelief in media circles.
From Opinion to On Camera
Douthat is not your typical news reporter. He’s long been recognized for his sharp, often provocative essays on politics and religion, rather than the hands-on investigative work that 60 Minutes has built its reputation on. Unlike the show’s former correspondents, who were known for their tenacity in pursuing hard-hitting stories, Douthat has no experience in broadcast television and no track record in investigative journalism. That’s a sharp contrast with the legacy of Mike Wallace, the former 60 Minutes staple who was celebrated for his relentless approach to uncovering the truth.
Still, CBS is touting the hire as a major win, especially in the context of the network’s new direction. Douthat’s move mirrors the appointment of Bari Weiss as editor in chief in October of last year. Like Douthat, Weiss was a prominent opinion writer with little experience in television news. She is the founder of the digital media company Free Press, which focuses on opinion pieces with a right-leaning slant, often described as ‘anti-woke’. Her hiring was also seen as a surprise, given her background and her departure from the New York Times, where she had worked in an opinion editorial role.
The New Guard
The new leadership under Weiss has continued to bring in unconventional hires. Nick Bilton, a former New York Times technology writer, was named executive producer of 60 Minutes despite having no prior experience in broadcast news. Bilton and Weiss share a common history at the Times and a mutual leaning toward opinion journalism. Together, they represent a fresh – and some would say, disruptive – approach to rebuilding 60 Minutes. The show has lost some of its most recognizable faces in recent months, and internal tensions over political bias have created a challenging environment for Weiss and her team.
Scott Pelley, the former 60 Minutes anchor, publicly criticized Weiss, accusing her in a staff meeting of ‘murdering’ the show. His comments spread quickly online and became a focal point of the controversy, despite his long and distinguished career at CBS. Pelley was soon let go, marking the end of an era for the program. The show’s new contributors include Sebastian Junger, a well-known author and former ABC News correspondent; Gianna Toboni, a former Vice journalist; and CBS’s own Trevor Phillips.
A Message in the Hire
Douthat’s hiring isn’t just about filling a role. It’s also a clear statement from the new leadership about their priorities. In a press release, Nick Bilton, now executive producer of 60 Minutes, described Douthat as “a thinker of uncommon rigor and a journalist of deep empathy”. Yet, the deeper message is that Douthat’s national reputation as a prominent conservative voice matters more now than his lack of TV or investigative experience. This reflects a broader trend under Weiss and her backers, particularly David Ellison, the billionaire owner of CBS News.
Douthat’s former boss at the New York Times, Katie Kingsbury, highlighted his unique writing style in a staff memo. She praised him for being “right about things early, wrong about things honestly, and never, not once, boring.” Those are strong endorsements in the world of opinion journalism. Clearly, such qualities align well with the new 60 Minutes, where the focus seems to be less on traditional news and more on ideological resonance and public persona.