Journalist Scott Pelley said he hasn’t watched 60 Minutes since he was fired four months ago for challenging the show’s new leadership and sticking up for its independence — and that he probably would’ve quit by now even if he hadn’t been fired.
Pelley, one of the most accomplished and recognizable journalists in the U.S., will visit Illinois State University on Tuesday night for a Presidential Speaker Series appearance. It’s free and open to the public.
Pelley’s ISU visit comes just months after his high-profile exit from 60 Minutes, where he worked as a correspondent for 27 years.
“It was surprising. And it was sudden,” Pelley told WGLT.
Pelley said he and others on staff had fought for over a year to protect 60 Minutes’ reputation and standards after Paramount Skydance’s takeover of CBS News. Pelley said their new owners were concerned about profits and the potential for another merger — since closed — and that they were interfering with 60 Minutes’ reporting and trying to “cancel” stories they thought the Trump administration wouldn’t like.
Pelley said he hasn’t watched any of the new episodes of 60 Minutes since the retooled show debuted in September.
“I feel like that the way it’s being done was going to shock my conscience even further. If they hadn’t of fired me, I probably would’ve quit by now,” Pelley said.
Pelley, who also anchored The CBS Evening News, said it’s unlikely he would work for another traditional legacy newsroom again. He said he’s received various offers, but none were the right fit. He’s now pursuing his own projects.
“I’m looking at various prospects in terms of documentaries, writing projects, podcast projects, things like that. I have a number of things in development,” he said.
‘National emergency’ in local news
Pelley’s career started in local news, working the overnight shift as a 15-year-old at his local newspaper in Lubbock, Texas. In the decades since, the local news industry has faced overwhelming financial pressures that have hollowed out newsrooms nationwide.
In the past year, 170 newspapers have closed or merged, at a rate of nearly three a week, according to the State of Local News report from Northwestern University. Republicans recently cut federal funding for public media stations. And commercial TV stations are facing consolidation pressures that could lead to fewer local news reporters on air.
Pelley calls it a “national emergency.”
“There is no democracy without journalism. It can’t be done. The people at home, the voters, they need to know and have credible information about their government, about their country, about what’s going on, so they can make decisions about their country, their state, their community, and even their families,” Pelley said.
National news outlets have their place, he said.
“But you need to know what’s going on at city hall, with the county commissioners. Corruption breeds when no one is looking. We know that,” Pelley said.
Pelley said he was encouraged by the Press Forward initiative, which is pumping millions in privately raised money into local media, even though its impacts are uneven.
“I don’t know if philanthropy is going to be the business model of the future, but it’s really exciting,” he said.
The Federal Communications Commission recently scrapped limits on how much of the country any one company can reach through the local TV stations it owns. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the move will help local news survive, though others disagree and argue it will lead to consolidation of news resources and fewer reporters on the ground.
Pelley said the effects on local journalism remain to be seen.
“It depends entirely on the ownership, on the conglomerate that is gathering up all of these television stations,” he said. “I think it cuts both ways. I think some of the large corporate owners are trying to homogenize these stations so they all do the same things. But the smart ones — and this is a good business decision — are allowing their stations to be independent and serve their local communities. Because every local community has different needs.”
Pelley’s visit to ISU
Pelley will visit Illinois State University on Tuesday, Oct. 27, as part of the Presidential Speaker Series. The public is invited to his free remarks at 7 p.m. in Braden Auditorium.
The theme of his speech will be leadership in uncertain times.
“I think leadership is such an important factor in times like these, with so much uncertainty around the world, but also in particular in this country. And there are lessons to be learned from many people I’ve met through the course of my career who discovered the meaning of their lives in times of great historical significance,” Pelley said.
That includes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who Pelley has interviewed. Pelley said he was struck by Zelenskyy’s transition from pop-culture comedian — “the Stephen Colbert of Ukraine” — to a wartime leader. He noted Zelenskyy’s application of his communication skills to help calm Ukrainians following Russia’s invasion in 2022.
“He has no training or preparation for this whatsoever — except one thing. He knew communications. So he walks outside the presidential offices with his iPhone and makes a selfie video to his people that says, ‘I’m still here. Your army is still here. And we are going to fight.' Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and having to make that decision.”
