How The Times Covers 60 Minutes and Other Journalists

Millions of Americans are expected to tune in on Sunday for the premiere of the 59th season of “60 Minutes.”A new leadership team has been working to overhaul the program, and the back story has played out like a newsroom TV drama.There have been accusations of bias and political interference; firings and hirings and more firings; and questions about how the program would be remade at a consequential moment for journalism in the United States.Ahead of the new season, Michael M.

Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin, the media reporters who have been covering the story for The Times, and their editor, Erin Mershon, discussed the challenges of covering their own industry (not to mention, former Times colleagues), the conspiracy theories they hear about news organizations and the complicated work of holding peers to account.This conversation has been edited and condensed.It’s been a chaotic few months at CBS and “60 Minutes.” Can you give us the quick version of what went down, and who was involved?MICHAEL M.

GRYNBAUM: It’s a convoluted tale, but the drama at “60 Minutes” has captured the public imagination in a way few media-world stories have before it.Shortly before he was elected to a second term, Donald J.Trump sued CBS, claiming “60 Minutes” had edited an interview to aid his opponent, Kamala Harris.

CBS’s parent company, Paramount, was on the verge of being acquired by the tech scion David Ellison, whose father, Larry, is friendly with Trump.Although many lawyers deemed the lawsuit frivolous, Paramount paid $16 million to settle; shortly afterward, the Trump administration approved the deal.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 ...