New York Times columnist Ross Douthat will join “60 Minutes” as a correspondent — one of five new hires announced Tuesday for the newsmagazine during its rebuilding phase.
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CBS News is reaching beyond the usual TV news ranks as it races to reboot “60 Minutes” after a rash of firings two months ago.
On Tuesday, the network announced two new correspondents and three new contributors to the top-rated newsmagazine.
The biggest surprise of the bunch: New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat, who has been helming a weekly interview show for the past year. He will leave The Times to become a full-time “60 Minutes” correspondent.
Norah O’Donnell, who has contributed to “60 Minutes” for more than a decade, will now be a full-fledged correspondent as well.
The other three new additions are contributors: Gianna Toboni, Trevor Phillips and Sebastian Junger.
Junger is best known for best-selling books like “The Perfect Storm” and “War” and long-form magazine stories. He co-directed the acclaimed 2010 documentary “Restrepo” about the war in Afghanistan.
Phillips is a prominent British broadcaster and former politician who joined CBS earlier this summer as senior global affairs correspondent.
And Toboni is a correspondent and filmmaker who most recently worked on the “CNN Explains” series. Toboni is best known for her decade of reporting and producing for Vice News. Last year she released a documentary, “Just Kids,” about teens living in states that restrict gender-affirming care.
Toboni will be joining CBS full-time as a national correspondent and will also contribute to “60 Minutes.”
New executive producer Nick Bilton said of the five, “Between them they have written books and magazine articles, produced documentaries, TV shows and podcasts, hosted live events and built brands on independent platforms.”
The newsmagazine is in urgent rebuilding mode following a controversial overhaul led by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
At the end of May, Weiss ousted “60 Minutes” executive producer Tanya Simon and two correspondents, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, both of whom have spoken out about untoward interference by management.
Weiss responded in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: “What’s being called ‘editorial interference’ is in reality the job description of an editor in chief.”
At the time of the firings, “60 Minutes” was already down a correspondent because CNN anchor Anderson Cooper had given up his position, reportedly due in part to concerns about Weiss and her vision for CBS News.
One of the four remaining correspondents, Scott Pelley, confronted Bilton and defended the fired journalists at a staff meeting in early June.
His comments — accusing Weiss of “murdering” the newsmagazine — quickly leaked out and deepened the crisis at CBS News. Bilton fired Pelley the next day, leaving the newsmagazine with just three full-time correspondents: Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim.
After several difficult days and widespread speculation about whether they’d leave, the trio announced that they would stay put because “we don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die.”
The newsmagazine is on its usual summer hiatus, with the new season slated to begin on Sunday, September 13.
