The new hires follow the exits of multiple journalists and producers under new CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, including longtime correspondent Scott Pelley
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NEED TO KNOW
- CBS News announced major changes to 60 Minutes, including four new contributors to the long-running newsmagazine
- Norah O’Donnell was also promoted to correspondent
- The changes come amid turmoil at CBS News, which is now under the oversight of editor-in-chief Bari Weiss
Norah O’Donnell has a new role at 60 Minutes, as the newsmagazine takes on a new shape under CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski and executive producer Nick Bilton.
O’Donnell, 52, was promoted to 60 Minutes correspondent after having previously been a contributing correspondent to the news show, Bilton announced on Tuesday, July 28. O’Donnell has been at CBS News since 2011, and anchored CBS Evening News from 2019 until January 2025.
“Norah is a powerhouse,” Bilton said in a statement. “You’ve seen her all over the network. She’s launched a new podcast. And you’ll see much more of her in our halls because Norah will be a correspondent on 60 Minutes.”
Bilton also hired New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat as a correspondent. Documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger, former Vice News journalist Gianna Toboni, and CBS News’ new senior global affairs correspondent Trevor Phillips will also join the show’s staff.
“Ross, Sebastian, Gianna and Trevor are entrepreneurial journalists who understand how to reach modern audiences,” Bilton wrote. “Between them they have written books and magazine articles, produced documentaries, TV shows and podcasts, hosted live events and built brands on independent platforms.”
O’Donnell, Douthat, Toboni, Junger and Phillips will join returning 60 Minutes journalists Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim. Despite the behind-the-scenes turmoil that involved the departure of longtime correspondent Scott Pelley, all three announced in June they would be returning because they “don’t want to see 60 Minutes die.”
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“We have had a hard time deciding whether to stay at 60 Minutes. We’re still deeply upset by the firings of Tanya and Draggan, strong leaders who everyone respected,” Whitaker, Stahl and Wertheim wrote in a memo, referring to the exits of executive producer Tanya Simon and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich.
“As far as we can tell — because no explanation has ever been offered, they were expelled because they fought for our 60 Minutes values and stood up to protect our independence and integrity,” the three continued. “Newsrooms are not supposed to be run like dictatorships. Collaboration and argument are the way we have always worked at 60. [Show creator] Don Hewitt actually encouraged loud passionate advocacy for our pieces. This goes for Sharyn [Alfonsi], Cecilia [Vega] and Scott as well, all at the top of the world of TV journalism who exemplified 60 Minutes’ ethos of tough questions and honest storytelling.”
Whitaker, Stahl and Wertheim later wrote that they “feared” returning would be seen as an endorsement of the “existing” power structure, but ultimately chose to stay and “fight.”
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“Here’s why we’re staying: We don’t want to see 60 Minutes die,” they wrote. “We have been grieving because this whole mess has wounded and damaged the broadcast. We want to stay and fight, try to repair and preserve our reputation.”
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