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Reeling From Bill Owens’ Shock Exit, ‘60 Minutes’ Staffers Warn Shari Redstone to Back Off
60 Minutes staffers hope the exit of top producer Bill Owens will serve as a notice to Paramount's Shari Redstone to leave the program alone
The departure of the top producer of “60 Minutes” on Tuesday marked a concerted effort by the staff of the venerable newsmagazine to send a message to one of the show’s most important viewers: its ultimate boss. In January, Susan Zirinsky, a veteran producer and former CBS News president, was named “interim executive editor” and assigned to oversee standards, and help to vet stories and journalistic practices. Bill Owens, only the third executive producer in the venerable program’s history, said Tuesday that he faced an increasing lack of ability “to make independent decisions based on what was right for ’60 Minutes,’ right for the audience.” In journalism circles, there are few things worse — particularly in an era when more mainstream news outlets have seen decisions made by business owners like Disney (ABC News) and Jeff Bezos (The Washington Post) that seem more concerned with sparking favorable relationships with current national leaders than with explaining the world to audiences without fear or favor.
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