NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Two months after , CBS鈥檚 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� has hired a lineup of new correspondents and contributors in time for its 59th season, including Ross Douthat, a conservative opinion columnist at The New York Times, and Norah O’Donnell, former anchor of 鈥淐BS Evening News.鈥�
The show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton, announced the news in a staff memo Tuesday, shared on X. Joining Douthat and O’Donnell will be author Sebastian Junger, Trevor Phillips and Gianna Toboni. All will be contributors to the show.
The new journalists join current correspondents Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker. Their hirings come two months led by the network’s new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.
Weiss installed Bilton, who has little substantive broadcast news experience, as executive producer, replacing Tanya Simon, who was let go after a 30-plus year tenure with the show. Also let go were correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega 鈥� and soon after, Scott Pelley, after a tense confrontation with his bosses over the changes.
In addition to the three dismissed, Anderson Cooper 鈥� whose primary job is at CNN 鈥� of his own accord after two decades.
CBS News leaders enthused about the hires
Weiss and Tom Cibrowski, the CBS News president, praised the new hires in an internal memo. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 be more excited about this news,鈥� the two said, welcoming the new additions. 鈥淥nward!鈥�
Bilton called Douthat 鈥渙ne of the preeminent public intellectuals in America today, a thinker of uncommon rigor and a journalist of deep empathy.鈥� The columnist has spent nearly two decades at the Times and is an author of numerous books.
The producer called O鈥橠onnell 鈥渁 powerhouse.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檝e seen her all over the network. She鈥檚 launched a new podcast. And you鈥檒l see much more of her in our halls because Norah will be a correspondent on 60 Minutes.”
Bilton praised Junger for his nonfiction work 鈥淭he Perfect Storm,鈥� about a catastrophic 1991 storm. The book 鈥渓anded with an electric charge in the world of reported nonfiction, defining an intense and intimate form of storytelling and establishing Sebastian as a generational talent,鈥� Bilton said.
Toboni joins鈥�60 Minutes鈥� as a contributor and CBS News as a national correspondent. Previously a senior correspondent with VICE News and VICE on HBO, she comes to the program from CNN.
Calling her a journalist of 鈥渆xtraordinary range,鈥� Bilton noted that Toboni has interviewed members of ISIS, investigated cartel violence in Mexico and has written a book on the death penalty.
Also serving as contributor will be Trevor Phillips, announced last month as the news division’s senior global affairs correspondent. Based in London, he is 鈥渙ne of the most respected and trusted voices in the United Kingdom for his ability to ask the toughest questions and hold anyone in power to account,鈥� Bilton wrote in his memo.
鈥�60 Minutes鈥� has faced upheaval for a while
Turmoil had raged at 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� before the May shakeup. Much of it came after President Donald Trump sued the show over with then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
That became part of a broader shakeup at CBS News after Weiss was by parent company Paramount late last year following David Ellison鈥檚 arrival as the network鈥檚 corporate leader.
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Jocelyn Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.
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