Contemporary Authors

• Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television's Most Influential News Broadcast Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2017

https://lccn.loc.gov/2017025966 Fager, Jeffrey author. Fifty years of 60 minutes : the inside story of television's most influential news broadcast / Jeff Fager. First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition. New York : Simon & Schuster, 2017. v, 409 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm PN4888.T4 F36 2017 ISBN: 9781501135804 (hardcover : alk. paper)

• CBS News - https://www.cbsnews.com/team/jeffrey-fager/

  Jeffrey Fager

  Executive Producer, 60 Minutes

  2017 Jun 26

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  Last Updated Feb 8, 2018 6:37 PM EST
  fager14.jpg

  Jeffrey Fager
  CBS News

  Jeffrey Fager begins his 14th season as executive producer of 60 Minutes in the fall of 2017. His efforts to re-shape the broadcast into an editorially more vibrant, news-conscious program have kept it among Nielsen's weekly top 10 television shows since he took it over. Now entering its 50th season, 60 Minutes is the most-watched news program in America and was the only broadcast news program to grow its average audience in the 2016-17 season.

  Fager wrote a book to commemorate the golden anniversary, "Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television's most Influential Broadcast," published by Simon & Schuster, a CBS company.

  His plans to improve the program online have also made the 60 Minutes brand a hit on the Internet. 60Minutes.com and 60MinutesOvertime.com have become the models of successful electronic journalism in the digital age.

  In 2011, Fager became the first chairman of CBS News, a role in which he was asked to remake the rest of news division's platforms on television, radio and the Internet, in the same way he rejuvenated 60 Minutes, which he continued to oversee as executive producer. He achieved the most success by relaunching CBS This Morning with a new team that would bring a harder news focus to the program in keeping with CBS News traditions. The new format, featuring Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell, drew critical acclaim and more viewers. Five years later, CBS This Morning has grown 46 percent, and in 2017, finished the season with the network's best morning ratings in 29 years --- the only network morning news program to grow its audience.

  His re-emphasis on hard news and the appointment of Scott Pelley to the anchor chair of the CBS Evening News resulted in higher ratings and more awards. The network's audience in that timeslot has grown 16 percent since 2012, while the broadcast's reporting has won the industry's highest accolades, including the Peabody and DuPont awards.

  In recognition for these and his other achievements, Fager received the 2013 Paul White Award, the highest honor given by the Radio, Television, Digital News Association.

  His mission as head of the news division complete, he returned full-time to 60 Minutes in January of 2015. Fager's 35 years at CBS News include experience at every stage of the electronic news business, including 21 years at the executive producer level, 13 of those at the helm of 60 Minutes. There, Fager upheld the program's legendary standard of quality storytelling but also instituted a new graphic look and emphasized more timely stories to keep it relevant in a new and challenging era. A pioneer in journalism's crucial mission to create and grow revenue streams online, he cultivated 60 Minutes' Internet presence by revamping 60Minutes.com and by initiating groundbreaking digital partnerships with Yahoo! and Comcast. He then built 60MinutesOvertime.com, an innovative, single-sponsored website that was the first to stream web-only 60 Minutes content. Fager also guided the creation and launch of the 60 Minutes iPad app, which is now one of the most popular paid apps available. He also expanded the brand to cable with 60 Minutes Sports, a sports-oriented edition he co-executive produced for SHOWTIME.

  60 Minutes draws an average audience more than double that of its nearest news magazine competition and reached an estimated 107.7 million unique viewers during the 2016-17 season, more than any other primetime, non-sports program.

  The Producers Guild of America voted him best producer in non-fiction television four times; he made TV Week's top 10 list of most powerful television news executives; he is a perennial name on The Hollywood Reporter's "35 Most Powerful People in Media" list.

  Before assuming control of 60 Minutes, Fager is credited with leading "60 Minutes II" to a slew of major awards over a short period of time as its executive producer for its first five seasons. The awards continued to flow when he took over 60 Minutes. 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II broadcasts executive produced by Fager garnered 68 Emmys, 11 Peabodys, 17 RTDNA/Edward R. Murrow Awards, seven Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University batons, nine Sigma Delta Chi Awards and three Investigative Reporting and Editing Awards.

  As the executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather from 1996 to 1998, Fager led the broadcast's highly praised re-dedication to hard news, enterprise reporting and increased foreign coverage. By the time he left to start "60 Minutes II," the CBS Evening News had gained more than one million viewers over the previous year, a gain unmatched by competitors.

  Fager was also the senior broadcast producer for the CBS Evening News (1994-96) for many major international stories, including the war in Bosnia and the Peabody Award-winning coverage of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

  He had been a producer for 60 Minutes from 1989 to 1994, primarily working with correspondents Morley Safer and Steve Kroft, and covered several major world events, including the Gulf War with Iraq in 1991. He was part of the original team that developed and launched 48 Hours, the primetime CBS News magazine.

  Fager served as a producer on the CBS Evening News, based in London (1985-'88) and New York (1984-'85), covering numerous international stories. He produced segments on Palestinian-Israeli conflicts in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan; the bombing of Libya in 1986; the Reagan‑Gorbachev summits in Geneva and Iceland; Gorbachev's first foreign visit, to Paris in 1986; and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe.

  He was a producer for other CBS News programs between 1982 and 1984, including the weekend editions of the CBS Evening News, and was a broadcast producer for "Nightwatch," CBS's original overnight news broadcast. He joined CBS News from KPIX‑TV San Francisco, where he was a broadcast producer (1979-82).He began his career as a production assistant in Boston in 1977 at the CBS station WBZ-TV, then quickly rose through a succession of television and radio news positions, including news writer and assignment editor.

  Fager was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He was graduated from Colgate University in 1977 with a B.A. degree in English.
  © 2017 CBS. All rights reserved.

• Simon and Schuster - http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fifty-Years-of-60-Minutes/Jeff-Fager/9781501135804

  Jeff Fager

  Jeff Fager is in his fourteenth season as the Executive Producer of 60 Minutes. In 2011 he became the first chairman of CBS News and, drawing on the values of 60 Minutes, he led a revitalization of the news division, including the turnaround of CBS This Morning. He returned full-time to 60 Minutes in 2015. Fager was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He graduated from Colgate University in 1977 with a B.A. degree in English.

QUOTED: "The author covers so many stories ... that the book is best consumed a few pages per sitting."
"an illuminating TV show biography that will appeal most to fans."

Fager, Jeff: FIFTY YEARS OF 60 MINUTES
Kirkus Reviews.
(Sept. 15, 2017): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Fager, Jeff FIFTY YEARS OF 60 MINUTES Simon & Schuster (Adult Nonfiction) $35.00 10, 24 ISBN: 978-1-5011-3580-4
Insider accounts of 60 Minutes, published in conjunction with the program's 50th anniversary (and counting), a milestone that makes it the longest airing show in the history of TV.A mixture of professional and personal gossip, as well as accounts of controversial episodes aired during the hour each Sunday evening (as well as other time slots during the early years), the book is mostly chronological, with one major exception. 60 Minutes executive producer and former CBS news chairman Fager begins with the third decade (1988-1998) because he believes that demonstrating the saga of the program after it reached maturity is the most effective way to help readers understand both the internal dynamics and the external impacts. Following the first section, the author travels back to the first decade and then settles into chronology with decades two, four, and five. Always at the center of the saga is founder Don Hewitt (1922-2009), portrayed as a benevolent newsroom dictator who mercilessly drove the show's producers and on-air correspondents. Almost every correspondent receives attention from Fager, who tells of journalistic and personal blemishes as well as successes. Mike Wallace is clearly the most dominant of the talent portrayed here, followed by Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner, Ed Bradley, Lesley Stahl, Steve Kroft, and Scott Pelley. To his credit, the author also offers detailed insights into many of the program's producers, who are rarely seen by viewers but generate most of the story ideas and conduct most of the reporting. Fager provides an up-to-date account, noting the rise of Donald Trump and the eight pre-presidential Trump episodes on 60 Minutes, including one about how he drove up rents to perhaps illegally evict tenants in his residential buildings. The author covers so many stories--about domestic politics, corporate wrongdoing, global wars, celebrity high jinks, adoring profiles, among dozens of others--that the book is best consumed a few pages per sitting. An illuminating TV show biography that will appeal most to fans, but no
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need to read it all at once.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Fager, Jeff: FIFTY YEARS OF 60 MINUTES." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2017. Book Review
Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A504217717/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=0867f608. Accessed 24 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A504217717
2 of 6 4/24/18, 9:05 PM

QUOTED: "Fager's might be the most comprehensive. It's certainly entertaining and frequently surprising."

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside
Story of Television's Most Influential
News Broadcast
David Pitt
Booklist.
114.4 (Oct. 15, 2017): p15. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television's Most Influential News Broadcast. By Jeff Fager. Oct. 2017.400p. Simon & Schuster, $35 (97815011710931. 791.45.
It's the only television series to have run for 50 years in prime time, and at the end of its first season it ranked a disastrous seventy-fifth out of 81 series. It was the faith of its network, CBS, and of its creator, veteran newsman Don Hewitt, that kept it on the air. Hewitt, who in 1967 "wanted to create Life magazine on television," is one of many journalists, producers, and writers who are profiled in this history of the multiple-award-winning 60 Minutes. As an executive producer on the show (he joined the team in 1989), the author is ideally positioned to give readers the inside scoop, and he doesn't disappoint. His loyalty to the show, however, doesn't keep him from telling what appears to be the unvarnished story: we learn, for example, that Mike Wallace had a reputation of being a habitual story-stealer, taking other people's ideas and using them himself (he thought it was his right as the senior correspondent to have the best stories). There have been other books about the show, including Hewitt's own autobiography, published in 2001, but Fager's might be the most comprehensive. It's certainly entertaining and frequently surprising.--David Pitt
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Pitt, David. "Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television's Most Influential News
Broadcast." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2017, p. 15. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A512776065/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=5f5b759a. Accessed 24 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A512776065
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QUOTED: "Many of Fager's examples are worthy of historians' study. ... Fager, however, does not take us backstairs at "60 Minutes." He provides little critical judgment on the program. He doesn't go deep inside editorial meetings where decisions on how to report and frame a story are hashed out. He doesn't talk about the impact of mobile devices and digital competition on the way he produces segments."
"For anyone who has opinions about the media and cares about journalism, this book will illuminate the broad contribution of "60 Minutes" and underscore the power of smart, compelling storytelling."

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
Book World: Five decades of
investigations, interviews and
influential storytelling
Frank Sesno
The Washington Post.
(Nov. 17, 2017): News: From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Full Text:
Byline: Frank Sesno
Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television's Most Influential News Broadcast By Jeff Fager
Simon & Schuster. 409 pp. $35
---
Almost anyone who has watched TV over the past 50 years knows the distinctive tick-ticking of the "60 Minutes" stopwatch. Since 1968, the program has investigated major wrongdoing and told delightful feature stories. If you were a scammer or a crooked politician, the last thing you wanted to hear was that "60 Minutes" was in the lobby. Reporters became household names: Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Leslie Stahl, Ed Bradley, Bob Simon, Steve Kroft and Andy Rooney turned the screws and explored the world in a cadence all their own.
Executive producer Jeff Fager's book, "Fifty Years of 60 Minutes," recounts the history of this extraordinary program decade by decade, with generous photo accompaniment. As traditional reporting is increasingly being challenged by high-decibel, opinion-drenched media, Fager highlights storytelling that conveys a deep understanding of issues and demonstrates the power of television to inform.
Fager was not there at the revolution - he took over from the program's legendary creator and executive producer, Don Hewitt, in 2004 - but he has spent years as a producer on the show and knows reporting from the ground up. We relive the show's highlights: the infamous exploding gas tank of the Ford Pinto of the 1970s, the hit men and con artists, Richard Nixon, Bob Dylan and Lady Gaga, Derek Jeter and Michael Jordan. We hear about Morely Safer playing pool with Jackie Gleason.
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The show's most memorable reporting has been from the front lines. Simon went missing in the Saudi desert as he covered the Persian Gulf War. Bradley took a sauna with Russian Maj. Gen. Alexander Gribov to do a story on missiles aimed at American cities. Kroft got Bill Clinton to admit he'd caused pain in his marriage. Investigative stories uncovered the Saudi connection to the 9/11 hijackers, the travesty of the Abu Ghraib prison and the secrets of CIA rendition, a program that spirited terrorism suspects to foreign prisons for interrogation and torture.
In all cases, Fager tells us, it's about the storytelling - and the writing. "It's the writing that keeps people watching, much more than the pictures," Fager says. His elements of style: Write for the ear, avoid cliche, don't hype or overstate. Go for detail and description. Avoid unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. "Keep our copy spare," he explains, and "make sure we are fair to everyone in our story, including those who declined to help us or participate in our reporting."
The stories are almost always built around the show's signature interviews. Deliberate, direct questioning demands direct and specific answers. Close-up shots catch every grimace or grin, every hesitation or emotion. As the toughest interviewer, Wallace, puts it: "With good research you could embarrass anybody, make anybody squirm. You could do it to me. But if you are really after illumination of an interviewee's character - qualities, substance, texture - if you're really after that, you can ask very pointed questions. Questions - sensible questions to get them to talk. You can establish ... a chemistry of confidentiality."
Many of Fager's examples are worthy of historians' study. In a 1985 exchange, Wallace asked Donald Trump about reports that he was raising rents to evict tenants. "And when they call you arrogant and cruel, those tenants over there, does that get under your skin?" "No," Trump said, "because, you see, I think I'm right; and when I think I'm right, nothing bothers me." The book contains other revealing examples, including interview excerpts with Hillary and Bill Clinton.
Fager, however, does not take us backstairs at "60 Minutes." He provides little critical judgment on the program. He doesn't go deep inside editorial meetings where decisions on how to report and frame a story are hashed out. He doesn't talk about the impact of mobile devices and digital competition on the way he produces segments or the way people consume news. He doesn't explain why there are still so few full-time female correspondents on "60 Minutes." He doesn't probe the program's influence on policy or public opinion. Still, we do get a few personal insights: We are reminded that Wallace stole stories and fought depression; we hear about the drama surrounding Rooney's quasi-apology after he offended gay people; and we share the grief that struck the staff after the deaths of Bradley, Simon, producer George Crile and others.
Fager acknowledges that "60 Minutes" itself has been subject to scandals and controversy over the years: the time CBS executives spiked Wallace's story about big tobacco; Dan Rather's disastrous story, based on fake documents, that George W. Bush tried to duck serving in Vietnam; Lara Logan's report on Benghazi that revolved around a source who lied about being there. Each of these scandals sullied the show's credibility, tarnished reputations and in some cases cost people their jobs. Fager does not address how these failures may have fed public distrust of the news media or what they taught him about the credibility crisis confronting journalism. Despite its setbacks, however, "60 Minutes" can rightfully claim an impressive track record.
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It is hard to overstate how much the media and our culture have changed since "60 Minutes" went on the air 50 years ago - long before cable news, the Internet, social media, BuzzFeed and Breitbart. For anyone who has opinions about the media and cares about journalism, this book will illuminate the broad contribution of "60 Minutes" and underscore the power of smart, compelling storytelling.
Hewitt famously said, "Tell me a story." It was the title of his memoir.
Fager reaffirms Hewitt's mission. "The goal," he writes, "is to get to the truth."
Amid the endless talk and angry tweets that assault us every day, Fager just may be onto something.
---
Sesno was a CNN White House correspondent, anchor and Washington bureau chief. He is the director of George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs and the author of "Ask More: The Power of Questions to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions and Spark Change."
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Sesno, Frank. "Book World: Five decades of investigations, interviews and influential
storytelling." Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2017. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A514877298/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=47c8bd80. Accessed 24 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A514877298
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"Fager, Jeff: FIFTY YEARS OF 60 MINUTES." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2017. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A504217717/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=0867f608. Accessed 24 Apr. 2018. Pitt, David. "Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television's Most Influential News Broadcast." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2017, p. 15. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A512776065/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=5f5b759a. Accessed 24 Apr. 2018. Sesno, Frank. "Book World: Five decades of investigations, interviews and influential storytelling." Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2017. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A514877298/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=47c8bd80. Accessed 24 Apr. 2018.

• New York Times
  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/business/media/60-minutes-book.html
  Word count: 1515

  QUOTED: "The assignment originally went to Richard Zoglin, a former editor at Time magazine and the author of a 2014 biography of Bob Hope. After having completed roughly a dozen interviews in 2015, however, Mr. Zoglin was summoned to meet with Mr. Fager, who told the writer that he was focusing too much on the negative. ... The men agreed that Mr. Zoglin should leave the project. In October, when “Fifty Years of ‘60 Minutes’” was published under Mr. Fager’s name, the 400-page book included scant mention of the issues raised by Mr. Zoglin."
  "The anniversary book does not address the issue of a possibly toxic workplace environment, and it skips any mention of inappropriate behavior by Mr. Wallace, who died in 2012, or Mr. Hewitt, who died in 2009."

  The New ‘60 Minutes’ Book Has a Troubled History

  By JOHN KOBLIN and MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUMDEC. 5, 2017
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  The CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl interviewed President-elect Donald Trump for “60 Minutes” in November 2016. Concerns about sexual harassment at the long-running show have emerged over the years. Credit Chris Albert/CBSNews, via 60MINUTES, via Associated Press

  Jeff Fager, the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” took over the writing of a book on the CBS show’s 50-year history after objecting to the direction of the original author’s research, according to three people familiar with how the book came to be.

  The assignment originally went to Richard Zoglin, a former editor at Time magazine and the author of a 2014 biography of Bob Hope. After having completed roughly a dozen interviews in 2015, however, Mr. Zoglin was summoned to meet with Mr. Fager, who told the writer that he was focusing too much on the negative.

  Specifically, Mr. Fager expressed concern that Mr. Zoglin had asked his interview subjects about the treatment of women in the “60 Minutes” workplace, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive internal matters. Mr. Fager also asked Mr. Zoglin why he had brought up the rocky tenure of Katie Couric, a onetime correspondent for the show and former CBS News anchor who left the network on bad terms.
  Photo
  Jeff Fager, the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” took over the job of writing a book celebrating the show’s 50 years after the original writer, Richard Zoglin, had conducted about a dozen interviews.

  The men agreed that Mr. Zoglin should leave the project. In October, when “Fifty Years of ‘60 Minutes’” was published under Mr. Fager’s name, the 400-page book included scant mention of the issues raised by Mr. Zoglin.

  The winner of 145 Emmy Awards, “60 Minutes” remains vital to CBS, regularly attracting a weekly audience of more than 12 million viewers and generating more than $100 million in annual advertising revenue. The network marked the show’s 50th anniversary with an hourlong retrospective clip-fest on Sunday night, celebrating the correspondents (Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Ed Bradley) and the big interviews (the Clintons, Ayatollah Khomeini, Bob Dylan) that have helped make it the longest-running newsmagazine program.
  Continue reading the main story
  Related Coverage

  Charlie Rose Fired by CBS and PBS After Harassment Allegations NOV. 21, 2017

  But concerns about sexual harassment at “60 Minutes” have emerged over the years, dating back to the era before Mr. Fager succeeded the show’s mercurial creator, Don Hewitt, as executive producer in 2004.

  In 1991 — seven years after the show hired its first female correspondent, Diane Sawyer — “60 Minutes” dropped Meredith Vieira from its roster of on-air reporters after she became pregnant with her second child. “I need someone who can pull his or her own weight,” Mr. Hewitt said in an interview with The New York Times at the time, adding that Ms. Vieira’s performance had been subpar. “She never made anybody sit up and take notice.”
  Meredith Vieira on "60 Minutes." She was dropped from the show's roster of on-air reporters in 1991. Video by Jerald Dana Cole

  Ms. Vieira’s exit is not ignored in the anniversary book, but it is treated gently. “In retrospect,” Mr. Fager writes, “I think Don made a mistake not allowing Meredith Vieira more flexibility. But he was also a creature of his generation. Don had many strong women around him, especially in the producer ranks.”
  Photo
  A scene from the first “60 Minutes” program, broadcast in September 1968, with Harry Reasoner, left, and Mike Wallace. Credit CBS

  The treatment of female co-workers by Mr. Wallace, the show’s signature correspondent, was also often insensitive. “What would now be called sexual harassment was par for the course back in the ’50s and early ’60s,” Mr. Wallace said in a 1996 Playboy interview. “And I would indulge in it.” In the same interview, he admitted that he had once had a habit of “snapping a bra” in the “60 Minutes” office.

  A 1991 Rolling Stone article also described instances of inappropriate workplace behavior, including by Mr. Hewitt. The former executive producer denied that he had made unwelcome sexual advances on those who worked at the show but admitted he had made a pass at the journalist Sally Quinn in the 1970s while they were covering a British royal wedding for CBS.

  “You’re damn right I did!” Mr. Hewitt told the author of the Rolling Stone piece, Mark Hertsgaard.
  Photo
  Steve Kroft interviewing President Barack Obama in 2009 for “60 Minutes.” The show generates more than $100 million in annual advertising revenue for CBS. Credit CBS

  In an interview last month, Mr. Hertsgaard recalled an incident that took place in a “60 Minutes” hallway during the time he spent reporting the Rolling Stone article. As he was speaking with a female producer, the reporter saw Mr. Wallace approaching with a rolled-up magazine in hand.

  “As he passes by,” Mr. Hertsgaard said, “she puts her hands behind her, like a little kid would to ward off a spanking. And, sure enough, as Mike’s walking by, he swats her on the butt with this rolled-up magazine. I said to her, ‘Does that happen often?’ She said, ‘You wouldn’t believe.’”

  The anniversary book does not address the issue of a possibly toxic workplace environment, and it skips any mention of inappropriate behavior by Mr. Wallace, who died in 2012, or Mr. Hewitt, who died in 2009. Instead, Mr. Fager describes Mr. Wallace as “tough, edgy, fun, bighearted, occasionally mean, full of life, and difficult to work with,” adding, “Mike was a troublemaker, and he loved that role, on and off air.”

  The publisher of “Fifty Years of ‘60 Minutes’” is Simon & Schuster, a subsidiary of the CBS Corporation. The original author, Mr. Zoglin, is now at work on another book — on Elvis Presley’s Las Vegas years — for the same publisher, which had previously put out his Bob Hope biography. He declined to comment for this article.
  Photo
  Hillary and Bill Clinton were interviewed on “60 Minutes” in 1992, when Mr. Clinton addressed questions about extramarital affairs. Credit Associated Press/CBS

  In a statement, Simon & Schuster said: “After working on the project for a short while, Richard decided he didn’t like being a writer for hire. At the same time, Jeff Fager, who had been with ‘60 Minutes’ for decades and lived through some of its most dramatic moments, was asked to be the author for the project.”

  CBS News has fallen under scrutiny since the firing of Charlie Rose, one of the network’s morning anchors and a “60 Minutes” correspondent from 2008 until his forced departure last month. Before joining the Sunday night show, Mr. Rose was a star of “60 Minutes II,” which had Mr. Fager as its executive producer during its six-year run. CBS cut ties with Mr. Rose in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct lodged by women who worked at his PBS talk show, and subsequent complaints later surfaced concerning his behavior at CBS.

  Last month, to promote the “60 Minutes” book, Mr. Fager appeared on Mr. Rose’s PBS show in a segment taped days before the host was fired. “I’m so pleased to have as good a friend as a man can have back at this table,” Mr. Rose said in welcoming Mr. Fager.

  Mr. Fager told Mr. Rose that with “Fifty Years of ‘60 Minutes,’” he had sought to create a guide for people coming up in the news business. “I really hoped that this could be a book for journalism students,” he said. “All of the different things that we do, all of the practices and values that we adhere to for all these years, I tried to get that in there.”

  A version of this article appears in print on December 6, 2017, on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Scrutinizing ‘60 Minutes’: A Rocky Task. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
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• CBS News
  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-fager-new-book-50-years-of-60-minutes/
  Word count: 785

  QUOTED: "What a rascal. ... I tell stories in the book about Mike because he was so much fun to be around. And at the same time, so difficult. A combination of the two. ... And, you know, always in the halls very much like he was on the air, which was, if you gained a few pounds, he'd make sure you knew it."

  Jeff Fager looks back on 50 Years of "60 Minutes" in new book

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  "60 Minutes" has won 138 Emmy Awards and 20 Peabody Awards in its five decades on television, and it has shattered enough ratings records to be called history's most successful program. But the legendary program is still evolving.

  "I think that we're more relevant on the news today than we were for many years, and I think that's important today," said Jeff Fager, now in his 14th year as executive producer of "60 Minutes." "But you know, the fundamentals haven't changed over all these years, and I really think that's a big part of the success."

  In honor of the broadcast's half-century anniversary, Fager is out with a new book called "Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television's Most Influential News Broadcast," published by Simon & Schuster, a division of CBS.

  Staying relevant and timely is important to the broadcast, but Fager said it can present a challenge because stories like their bombshell investigation into the opioid crisis with the Washington Post took months to prepare. It resulted in lawmakers calling for action and Rep. Tom Marino withdrawing his nomination as drug czar.

  "We hope to have that kind of impact. And I think a lot of times we judge ourselves based on the investigative reporting," Fager said.

  "60 Minutes" producers' screenings of pieces before they go to air are infamous for their intensity. Even "60 Minutes" special contributor Oprah Winfrey said last week on "CBS This Morning," "I love the process of sitting in a room and everybody ripping your stuff apart. I love that. They say, go back, make it better. Jeff Fager has an ear and an eye like – unbelievable."

  "It's not personal. It's direct. And I think that a lot of that translates on the air. But in the interest of fairness and accuracy, it should be intense," Fager said.

  The executive shared stories about some of the legendary journalists he's worked with at "60 Minutes," starting with the broadcast's creator, Don Hewitt.

  "It wouldn't have happened without him. Just a creative genius," Fager said. "He was an amazing character. Really, full of life. Larger than life. And he was a great editor as well. Really good storyteller. And I think that's a huge part of what we have become. Why we became that. And Mike Wallace joining up with Don Hewitt."

  Fager said the Hewitt and Wallace duo were like John Lennon and Paul McCartney "because it was those two unique characters that had so much to do – and today still – with how we operate and the way we approach stories."

  "And also, what a rascal," Fager said of Wallace.

  "I tell stories in the book about Mike because he was so much fun to be around. And at the same time, so difficult. A combination of the two," Fager said. "And, you know, always in the halls very much like he was on the air, which was, if you gained a few pounds, he'd make sure you knew it. You know, and if he didn't like your story on Sunday night, he'd tell you that, too. If he liked, it he'd tell you."

  As for journalist Morley Safer, Fager said he "brought something really different."

  "Part of, I think, why he – because he was such a great writer. And so his stories were built around a prose. And I think part of that is because Mike Wallace started stealing stories from him," Fager said. "Mike was so competitive. Morley had to come up with something that was unique, and he did. The kind of whimsical tale, an adventure he would take."

  Fager has been on adventures himself as executive producer, even arm wrestling with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting for "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose's "60 Minutes" interview with the world leader.

  "It was a draw," Fager said.

  "It was a draw. I was there," Rose concurred.

  "I was afraid I might beat him, so I called the draw," Fager said, laughing.
  © 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

• Houston Press
  http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/review-fifty-years-of-60-minutes-by-jeff-fager-9877101
  Word count: 758

  QUOTED: "There is something of an encyclopedia-like approach to the writing; you may find yourself glossing over the scores of report summaries on topics that may not interest you. But as a historical book on a journalistic giant, this book neatly encapsulates 50 years of aggressive and eye-opening (and not just the CBS Eye) television journalism."

  The Stopwatch Keeps Ticking For 60 Minutes
  Bob Ruggiero | October 20, 2017 | 6:00am

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  AA

  Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television’s Most Influential News Broadcast
  By Jeff Fager
  Simon & Schuster, 416 pp., $35

  On its very initial broadcast on September 24, 1968, co-host Harry Reasoner introduced this new program called 60 Minutes as “a kind of magazine for television.” It was the brainchild of producer Don Hewitt, who had actually been fired from the same position on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.

  And since TV’s longest-running program is about to turn a half-century, this comprehensive book charts 60 Minutes' high successes, abject failures, colorful cast of correspondents, showing just how influential and copied this bold experiment has been over the decades. Even if its initial TV ratings placed 75th out of 81 programs, and there were plenty of day and time shifts for the broadcast before it became a Sunday Night Ritual.

  As Fager is the show’s current Executive Producer – who professes his love for the program at every turn – there is a question of objectivity. But to his credit, just as he crows about the show’s successes, he does not gloss over its occasional failures which resulted in on-air apologies and meaculpas. Or, in the case of the story about George W. Bush and his National Guard service based on fake documents (“Rathergate,” named for reporter Dan Rather), making its own national news and leading to staff firings.
  A half-century of legendary TV news personalities, in and out of the newsroom.
  A half-century of legendary TV news personalities, in and out of the newsroom.
  Book cover by Simon & Schuster

  He also details the personalities, in and out of the newsroom, of correspondents like Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, Bob Simon, Morley Safer, Lesley Stahl, the curmudgeonly Andy Rooney, and others who have sat in front of that ticking-clock graphic. Sometimes, the correspondents have also become part of news themselves, like when Rooney was suspended for off-color commentary, or Lara Logan sexually assaulted by a mob of Egyptian men while reporting on the country's upheaval.
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  It’s the troublemaking and confrontational Wallace – known for years for “ambush” interviews – who comes off as the most colorful and exacerbating. And though the program discontinued that practice years ago, plenty of people lived in fear of Mike Wallace jumping out from behind a bush or through a doorway firing off questions.

  Like the show itself, the book certainly swings the gamut from stories from heavy social and political topics (Abu Ghraib, Pinto explosions, Chernobyl, Big Tobacco) to contemporary culture (prison life, drug trafficking, Jack Kevorkian), to celebrity profiles (Luciano Pavarotti, Clint Eastwood, Barbra Streisand) and a whole lotta politicians. Not surprisingly, Fager also spotlights the role of a segment’s producer – which is of no small importance – in shaping and bringing each story to life.

  There’s special mention of the show’s segments based on crimes and con men, and mention is made of Steve Kroft’s 1990 piece on Bill Whitlow, the Houston car dealer busted for “mile busting,” or rolling back the odometers on used vehicles. “A crook doesn’t believe he’s made it as a crook until he has been on 60 Minutes,” noted Morely Safer, perhaps the show’s greatest wordsmith, noted.

  There is something of an encyclopedia-like approach to the writing; you may find yourself glossing over the scores of report summaries on topics that may not interest you. But as a historical book on a journalistic giant, this book neatly encapsulates 50 years of aggressive and eye-opening (and not just the CBS Eye) television journalism.

  Bob Ruggiero has been writing about music, books, and entertainment for the Houston Press since 1997, with an emphasis on classic rock. He used to have an incredible and luxurious mullet in college as well. He is the author of the band biography Slippin’ Out of Darkness: The Story of WAR.

• Broadcasting Cable
  https://www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/jeff-fager-celebrates-50-years-60-minutes-book-169589
  Word count: 613

  QUOTED: "Our fifty-year story became the fifty-year history of our country and our place in the world."
  "as much about the past half-century as they do about the broadcast and the people who put it together."

  Jeff Fager Celebrates 50 Years of ’60 Minutes’ With Book
  Famed newsman tries hand at different storytelling medium with book about iconic news mag

  Michael Malone
  Oct 24, 2017

  Fifty Years of 60 Minutes: The Inside Story of Television’s Most Influential News Broadcast is published October 24, and represents Jeff Fager’s attempt at getting a half-century of the fabled news mag between two covers. Fager is, of course, the executive producer of 60 Minutes.

  Speaking to B&C, Fager wasn’t about to pick a top decade for the show. But he did note how 60 Minutes has changed over the many years.

  “There was a period when 60 Minutes did a lot of ambushes. There was a period when 60 Minutes hid cameras,” he said. “There was a period after I took over when we became more newsy.

  “What I think is great is that the viewer doesn’t really see these changes,” he added. “It still feels like the same old 60 Minutes, because in large part it is.”

  Fager is in his 14th year in the role. He was on CBS This Morning Tuesday, talking about the book. “My second favorite broadcast on television,” he said of the newscast he played a key part in building. He noted how 60 Minutes started off on Tuesdays, and ran every other week. Gayle King mentioned how the show was No. 75 out of 81 in terms of the Nielsens.

  But it grew. “We don’t underestimate the viewer—ever,” said Fager.

  60 Minutes has won 138 Emmy Awards and 20 Peabody Awards. The show stands apart in that it does not use audience research to help decide which stories to cover. “We resist that entirely,” Fager said. “We decide what we’re going to cover, which means the onus is on us to make the story that much better.”

  He said 60 Minutes will at times even do stories that people don’t care to see. “We cover them because we think they’re important,” he said. “And we think we can do it in a way that will engage the audience.”

  Fager was inducted into the Giants of Broadcasting pantheon last month, where he spoke about the "fairness and integrity" that has defined 60 Minutes across its lifespan. "Those things really do matter, and they're a huge part of why we've been so successful," he said.

  Researching the program’s 50-year history was an eye opener for the author. “Our 50-year story became the 50-year history of our country and our place in the world,” Fager said. The reader learns “as much about the past half-century as they do about the broadcast and the people who put it together.”

  Like any news organization, 60 Minutes has a challenge in terms of covering President Trump. Fager said he knows the president watches the program. “We’ve had our differences and I write about those in the book,” he said.

  Trump appeared pleased with the story 60 Minutes did on him after he won the election last November, according to Fager. Lesley Stahl did the interview. “He thought it was fair, and that’s all we ever promise,” said Fager. “We’re gonna be tough and he knows it.”

  Fager adds, “You never know how he’s going to feel about a story, and we’re not looking to find out.”

• The County Line
  http://thecountyline.net/pages/book-review-jeff-fagers-fifty-years-of-60-minutes-presents-history-of-news-program/
  Word count: 486

  QUOTED: "For a regular viewer of 60 Minutes, the Fager book is a 10. For everyone else, it is a great introduction."

  Book review: Jeff Fager’s ‘Fifty Years of 60 Minutes’ presents history of news program

  By Larry Ballwahn | Posted December 21st, 2017 |

  By Larry Ballwahn | Wilton

  Perhaps you are one of the millions who tune into CBS’ “60 Minutes” most Sunday nights. Maybe, like me, you have done so for the best part of 50 years.

  Jeff Fager, executive producer, presents a look behind the award-winning news program from its very beginning. According to Fager, the magazine format (several stories often unrelated, told in some depth) was the brainchild of Don Hewett, who became the long-time executive producer of the program. It is the executive producer who determines which stories make it to the broadcast. Correspondents pitch their stories in a competitive bid to get on the air. Usually that results in the best of the best making it.

  On average, a prime-time television program lasts just over two years. “Sixty Minutes” is in its 50th season. The first of the “magazine” formats, the show has done many things right: quality on-air personalities, the Sunday time slot, telling stories rather than reporting on issues, and telling the “right” stories the right way.

  The book is organized by decade, emphasizing the stories and personalities of the time: Richard Nixon, the fall of Berlin Wall, Barack Obama and Donald Trump; among many others. The who’s who personalities. Mike Wallace even had an interview with the infamous Dr. Kevorkian and broadcast an assisted suicide. And then there are the exposés. Are you involved in some fraudulent activity? Maybe billing Medicare in excess? Imagine your thought process; your receptionist is on the phone saying “60 Minutes” is there to speak to you and has a camera person.

  Were you aware that each broadcast journalist (correspondent) has two or three producers who scout stories for them? Did you even know that TV newspersons like Mike Wallace, Scott Pelly, Laura Logan and Leslie Stahl were “broadcast journalists”? On “60 Minutes,” full-time correspondents were/are responsible for providing eight to 10 stories per year on a competitive basis, locating, verifying, pitching to the executive producer, filming, writing and editing. As Dan Rather and Laura Logan learned the hard way, take a shortcut in the process and the cost can be high.

  For many years, the curmudgeon Andy Rooney provided closing commentary at the end of the program. In one of his early efforts, Andy made the case for rating everything on a 10-point scale: Wonder Bread, 1; Scotch tape, 3; golden retrievers, 10, etc. According to Andy, if we would grade everything in our lives that way, it would make decision making easier. For a regular viewer of “60 Minutes,” the Fager book is a 10. For everyone else, it isa great introduction.

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