Nick Bilton, New 60 Minutes Chief, Pledges Independence

Nick Bilton, the new executive producer of “60 Minutes,” moved to shore up support of his demoralized staff on Thursday, writing in a memo that the program “will never be instructed by the ownership” of CBS News on its reporting.His comments, delivered in an email to staff that was obtained by The New York Times, came as questions swirled about the future of the program’s three remaining correspondents, Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker.All three have been deliberating on whether to remain on the show in the wake of the firing of their longtime colleague Scott Pelley, according to two people familiar with the matter.Ms.

Stahl, Mr.Wertheim and Mr.

Whitaker did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Mr.Bilton wrote in the memo that he had consulted with the remaining correspondents in recent days, and that they were “core to this show’s success.” Mr.

Bilton dined with Ms.Stahl on Wednesday evening, according to two people familiar with their plans.Mr.

Bilton said Maria Gavrilovic, a longtime producer who had worked extensively with Mr.Pelley, had been elevated to a senior role and would “be by my side.”“60 Minutes,” the country’s top-rated news program, has been embroiled in crisis since last week, when Bari Weiss, the CBS News editor in chief, fired the show’s leadership team and two on-air correspondents and installed Mr.

Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker with no broadcast experience, as its new head.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....