23 Apr 2025

Top Producer Resigns from 60 Minutes Over Loss of Journalistic Independence

by Bonnie | | 0

Bill Owens resigned from his job as executive producer of the CBS weekly television news show 60 Minutes, saying he no longer has the journalistic independence necessary to run the show properly.

He told the staff of the show:

Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience. So, having defended this show—and what we stand for—from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward.

60 Minutes has been on the air 57 years. Owens is only its third executive producer. His resignation is seen as a combination of taking a courageous stand for journalistic integrity and potentially weakening an important news source, since he will no longer be in a position to try to shield the program.

Trump has put it under severe pressure by suing CBS News for $10 billion over the show’s interview with former Vice President and then-candidate for President Kamala Harris. Trump has often fumed at CBS for various interviews and news coverage, and is pressuring regulators to strip it of its broadcasting license. Such licenses are issued per station, not per network.

Although legal experts view the lawsuit as baseless, Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of parent company Paramount, needs federal approval to sell her company Skydance. To get that approval, she has been pushing to settle the case with Trump and appease him. She has also been forcing CBS to make changes in the way it operates.

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