Editor’s Note: CBS News fired 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley last week after he berated his bosses and accused them of "murdering" the news magazine and betraying journalistic principles. In the report below, the author, playwright, and journalist Jonathan Leaf holds up a mirror to reveal the sort of axe-grinding journalism 60 Minutes has been producing for decades. This piece first appeared here in a modified version at Jonathan Leaf’s Substack.
A week ago, former 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley arrived for a meeting with his new boss, Nick Bilton, on the CBS News show at which they both work. Pelley took this as an opportunity to lecture and browbeat Bilton. In the meeting, which was recorded and leaked to the press, Pelley publicly accused those whom he works for as lacking credentials as journalists. Singling Bilton out, Pelley said that he had "slender qualifications" for the job of producing 60 Minutes. Necessarily, CBS fired Pelley the next day.
In his posture against Bilton, Pelley portrayed himself as possessing the journalistic credibility his new boss lacked. This is a little like Jeffrey Epstein calling out the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit for their lack of caring about underage girls.
I make this claim based on personal experience.
Let me explain. Ten years ago I received a phone call out of the blue. It was from a genuinely distinguished journalist, Irish-American investigative reporter and filmmaker Phelim McAleer. Phelim was calling me to ask if I wanted to collaborate on a piece of documentary theater. The project was inspired by the true story of Steven Donziger and his legal fight with the oil giant Chevron.
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