Brian Stelter gives us the details on Lara Logan’s return to work on 60 Minutes and Sharyl Attkisson’s new job.
By Brian Stelter, CNN
Exactly a month ago, there were a flurry of questions about whether Lara Logan would ever return to the acclaimed CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes." On Wednesday, CBS answered matter-of-factly: yes.
"Lara Logan has returned to work," a CBS News spokeswoman said in response to reporter inquiries.
Logan had been on leave since last November, when her "60 Minutes" report about the 2012 consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya was widely discredited and essentially retracted. So had her producer Max McClellan. CBS did not comment on McClellan's status on Wednesday, but he is expected to return to the newsmagazine, too.
"60 Minutes" is on a summer hiatus, but Logan is expected to appear on other CBS newscasts in the meantime.
Here's what Brian said on air:
Is Lara Logan ever coming back to "60 Minutes?"
That's the question that reporters, producers and TV executives will all be asking on Monday. New York magazine is about to come out with a feature by all-star reporter Joe Hagan, and the line on the cover says "Should Lara Logan Be Allowed Back on '60 Minutes?'"
You probably remember what happened last October. It was about the topic of our first segment this morning, the tragedy in Benghazi. Logan interviewed a security officer she called Morgan Jones. And he told a story about being in Benghazi on the night of the consulate attack.
But after Logan's report aired, the story unraveled. In November, she came back on the program, said "we were wrong to put him on air," and apologized. She has been on a leave of absence ever since.
So Hagan looked into what happened and into her past at CBS News. And in his story, he uses the word "toxic" to describe her. Hagan reports that "Logan's return appears less and less certain."
Some people at CBS say there is still a plan for her to come back on the air - and that it could happen soon. But I think this magazine story will create even more uncertainty about that. CBS has declined to comment. The story will come online tonight, and in print tomorrow.
By Becky Perlow, CNN
It's been a great week for media news, so Brian Stelter and the Reliable team are busy gathering all the stories for our Sunday show. Look for a few segments on the release of a new book that blasts Roger Ailes, as well as an interview with an AP photographer who reunited a young, homeless man with his family simply taking a picture. Unfortunately, we can't fit everything into our one-hour show, so we decided to share a few other stories that didn't make the cut this week:
'Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet'
Amanda Hess writes in the Pacific Standard that female journalists (and women in general) are falling victim to violent cyber attacks. In the article, Hess shares her own experiences of violent, sexual tweets and comments that have been directed at her from people who were angered by her articles. In one of the tweets, the writer tells her, "Happy to say we live in the same state. Im looking you up, and when I find you, im going to rape you and remove your head." Hess adds that despite reaching out to local and federal authorities, she is told to either quit Twitter or given the run-around by the police. Hess hopes that her article will bring light to an issue that is too often not taken seriously.
'Navy mistakenly sends FOIA plans to reporter'
Scott MacFarlane, a reporter for NBC 4 in Washington, D.C, reportedly filed several requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but got more than he bargained for when the Navy accidentally sent him an internal memo about MacFarlane's requests. The Navy's official Twitter account has released an apology for the mistake.
"60 Minutes' Clean Tech Segment Disputed By Former Energy Department Loan Boss'
As if CBS '60 Minutes' didn't have enough public relations nightmares to deal with, another segment by the legendary newscast has recently come under fire. According to The Huffington Post, the segment "detail[ed] perceived failures in government support for the development of clean energy and other advanced technology," but was later "criticized for leaving out crucial information about the state of the clean tech sector and over-emphasizing governmental failures."
'TV news executive producer saves family from fire'
As journalists, we're always on the lookout for good stories, but one news producer went over and beyond the call of duty earlier this week in Dacula, Ga. On her way to work, she noticed a house on fire and immediately called 911, before running toward the house and "banging on the doors and windows" to get the people out to safety. Now that's a good producer.
For more media news, tune in Sunday at 11am ET.
By Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) - John Miller, who has moved back and forth between public service and journalism like few others in either profession, is doing it again.
This time he's leaving CBS News, where he has been a senior correspondent for two years, and joining the New York Police Department.
Miller announced his latest move on Thursday. He embodies something that is, for some media critics, a source of great concern: the so-called "revolving door" between the people who cover the news and the people who are being covered. For CBS, he's something else: a fount of great knowledge who will be almost impossible to replace.
David Rhodes, the president of the network news division, said Miller's decision was "a loss for CBS."
"He's been really great for us," Rhodes said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
CBS allowed Miller out of his contract with the network because, as Rhodes put it, "it would just be inappropriate to stand in the way" of a return to public service. Miller's exact title at the NYPD is not yet known. But he'll have a high-profile job in counterterrorism, reuniting with his former boss William Bratton, who was the commissioner of the police department in the mid-1990s and will return to that position in January.
Read more of Brian's article online here.
After another 60 Minutes report gets panned, Michael Calderone, Ryan Lizza, Alicia Shepard and Brian Stelter look at what’s going wrong at the venerable CBS news magazine.
Errol Louis, Lynn Sweet, Dylan Byers and Terence Smith join guest host Frank Sesno to discuss the 60 Minutes apology for their botched Benghazi story; did it go far enough?
Bill Carter, Kelly McBride, David Brock and guest host Eric Deggans on the CBS news magazine show's latest controversy.
By Laura Koran, CNN
We have a lot to discuss on this Sunday's show, from the media's coverage of the gun control debate to Anthony Weiner's comeback hopes. But Sunday is still several days away! Here are some of the stories we found interesting this week.
Schieffer’s tip to local broadcasters: CBS Chief Washington Correspondent and host of Face the Nation Bob Schieffer had some words of advice for local broadcasters when he accepted the National Association of Broadcasters’ Distinguished Service Award on Monday. Schieffer warned that, as local newspapers fold, the responsibility of broadcast reporters to hold local governments accountable will become increasingly important saying, “You cannot have a democracy unless people have that independently gathered version of events compared to what government is telling them.” Schieffer acknowledged that technology is changing the way people consume news, but rejected the idea that news content and journalistic standards should change as well.
No comment? The Huffington Post came under fire from Politico’s Mike Allen on Thursday for publishing a story about former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour without speaking with Barbour first. The story, by Peter H. Stone, claimed that the former governor was leaving the super PAC American Crossroads because he had concerns about its affiliate, the Conservative Victory Project. Barbour told Allen the story, “has no basis in fact,” and that, “Nobody at HP even talked to me about it.” He went on to say that his commitment to American Crossroads ended after the 2012 election, and that he “left with high regard and respect” for the organization. Stone and his editors are sticking by their story, and say they gave Barbour “a little more than an hour” to respond to the claims made by two un-named sources.
The “60 Minutes” formula for success: Segments that take months to produce. Frequent and costly international trips. In-depth, long-form reporting. These are not generally thought of as the ingredients of a successful (much less, profitable) news program. Yet the formula has been working for the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” for 45 years, and in an era of short attention spans and increasingly insatiable demand for new content, the ratings are holding strong. The Hollywood Reporter spoke recently with the producers and correspondents of “60 Minutes” for an in-depth profile. So what is the secret to the show’s success? Longtime correspondent Morley Safer offered this theory: "It is staying out of the gutter and handling just about any kind of story imaginable. And at some point, maybe around the 25th year, we became a habit."
What are you reading this week?