60 Minutes has re-emerged after inner upheaval: The CBS newsmagazine will air new episodes through June

The Washington Post

For the second week in a row, 60 Minutes was No. 1 in primetime thanks to its in-depth coronavirus pandemic reporting. The coronavirus story has been so important that 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens said to CBS News president Susan Zirinsky that "we can't stop." So instead of ending its season last weekend, as it traditionally does the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, 60 Minutes will keep on going with new stories until at least June 28. 60 Minutes' re-emergence comes less than two years after longtime executive producer Jeff Fager was fired amid sexual misconduct allegations. Owens took over and has made the CBS newsmagazine "solid and reliable," as one observer put it, amid the coronavirus pandemic. "The show has dug deep into the troubles of farmers, rural hospitals and the newly unemployed," says Margaret Sullivan. "But it has also provided uplifting moments, such as a General Motors line worker describing his satisfaction in helping to make ventilators; and poignant ones, such as musician Wynton Marsalis paying tribute to jazz pianist father, Ellis, who had died from covid-19. The program may be at its best when it takes on a potentially dry subject — like how the pandemic might affect climate change — and makes it both accessible and moving, as in Jon Wertheim’s piece featuring climate activist Bill McKibben."