60 Minutes hires Ross Douthat, Sebastian Junger and others to rebuild after spring shake-up

CBS's 60 Minutes announced a slate of new journalists on Tuesday, the first major hires under executive producer Nick Bilton after a spring purge of veteran correspondents and senior leaders. The additions include Ross Douthat, the conservative New York Times opinion columnist, as a full-time correspondent. Author and documentarian Sebastian Junger, former Vice News correspondent Gianna Toboni, and British journalist Trevor Phillips join as contributors. Norah O’Donnell, the former CBS Evening News anchor, was promoted from contributor to correspondent.

The new lineup

In a memo to staff, Bilton praised the new hires as "entrepreneurial journalists who understand how to reach modern audiences." Douthat, who is leaving the Times after joining in 2009, was described as "a thinker of uncommon rigor and a journalist of deep empathy." He hosts the Times podcast "Interesting Times," where he has interviewed figures including JD Vance and former Senator Ben Sasse. Junger wrote The Perfect Storm and has produced documentaries. Toboni, a filmmaker, spent years at Vice News. Phillips joined CBS News as a global correspondent in June.

“An exceptional lineup of journalists will be joining 60 Minutes, carrying on its tradition of fearless, independent and impartial reporting. I can't wait for them to get started.”

The spring departures

The hires come after what staffers called "Black Thursday" two months ago, when correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were fired along with executive producer Tanya Simon, executive editor Draggan Mihailovich and multiple producers. Veteran correspondent Scott Pelley was fired the following week after protesting the dismissals in meetings with management. Anderson Cooper left voluntarily. The shake-up was orchestrated by CBS editor in chief Bari Weiss.

Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim chose to "stay and fight" and remain on the show. The three fired correspondents have since accused CBS News executives of trying to inject political bias into their segments, raising the stakes for the new season to prove its journalistic independence.

The new season

With the show's staff largely on break during July, Bilton said there are "so many stellar pieces in the works" for the premiere on September 13. The new team will face the task of restoring trust after the tumult that saw the exodus of reporters who had defined the program for years.

“He was right about things early, wrong about things honestly and never, not once, boring.”

Katie Kingsbury, opinion editor at the Times, wrote that about Douthat in a separate memo to her staff, reflecting on his tenure at the newspaper.