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60Minutes Case Study

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60Minutes Case Study Case Study provided by Stephen Taylor i) Name of Organization 60 Minutes 524 West 57th St. New York, NY 10019 www.60minutes.com http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml ii) Nature of the work: 60 Minutes is a news magazine program that focuses on reporter-centered investigation. Its format generally consists of three in-depth, long-form news stories that either undertake their own investigations, or expand upon stories currently being reported in the news. These stories - many of which focus on allegations of illegalities or corruption in corporate or government settings - usually rely heavily on interviews with individuals relevant to the subject, either on the accusatory side or the defensive side. 60 Minutes is somewhat unique for the amount of time usually devoted to showing interview footage itself, rather than providing soundbites with acocmpanying commentary. Outside of these more invstigative-styled segments, 60 Minutes will presents profiles, or biographies, of celebrities, politicians, or exceptionally newsworthy individuals. The final element of the 60 Minutes program is a closing segment by the commentator, Andy Rooney, usually lasting no longer than 3-5 minutes. The segments tend to be light-hearted, though can vary widely, covering topics such as international relations, elections, popular culture, and are marked by Rooney's own personal idiosyncratic take on life. 60 Minutes occupies a vital place in the television landscape, and serves a valuable role in the poduction community. While similar shows have come and gone, 60 Minutes has maintained a steady presence as a serious journalistic program with an eye toward securing the public good through holding government officials and corporations accountable for their actions. Its longevity, popularity, and deep resources all contribute to its ability to draw attention to important issues of the day. Their success provides a model to those in the television production community who are interested not simply in daily journalism, but in digging deeper into news stories and crafting long-form, investigative pieces that have a deep influence both on viewers and on the wider journalistic community. Its role in providing an outlet for long-form celebrity and politician profiles also gives it a unique place in the televison production world. It has cultivated, through its long track record, an image of seriousness and fairness related to its interviews and profiles. This image as a serious investigator and disseminator of information allows the show's producers to convince otherwise reticent public figures to agree to do a profile/interview segment. iii) Sample Projects & Clients As 60 Minutes' programming is remakrably consistent both in format as well as general quality, one can simply look at one of their most recent broadcasts to gain a sense of the kind of work that they do on a weekly basis. These stories are representative of their general output: One story, following the recent case of Faisal Shahad and his attempted Times Square bombing, reports on American citizens who have traveled abroad in recent years, explicitly for the purpose of receiving terrorist training. The story begins with a brief reminder of Shahad's attempted attack, and speaking with New York Police commissioner Raymond Kelly. The story then moves on to report on other cases of men like Shahad who, while they are Americans, have become involved with foreign terrorist groups intent on attacking the U.S. The story goes on to feature interviews with lawyers of those accused of such activity, FBI senior intelligence advisors, and the families and friends of those tied to terrorist activities. A second story follows Secretary of State, HIllary Clinton, as she performs various duties associated with her job, as well as featuring a lengthy and wide- ranging interview with her, covering various foreign policy developments. A third story covers the still-unfolding mortage crisis in the United States, specifically focusing on what is known as "strategic default" - basically the act of simply walking away from a home because they do not think that it is worth the value of its mortage anymore. The story features a pair of couples who are in the process of defaulting on their mortage, before turning to a look at what the government is trying to do in response to this growing trend. The story then profiles a business that specializes in helpign families and individuals to default in order to get out form under their crushing obigations. A final example of a trademark production by 60 Minutes would be an interview conducted with Conan O'Brian, his first since leaving the Tonight Show in a cloud of controversy. That O'Brian gave his first interview to 60 MInutes is not surprising, given the show's long track record of conducting serious long-form interviews and packaging them into thoughtfully edited productions. The episode in which this interview aired netted 60 Minutes the number 1 prime- time rating for the week. The show often uses high-profilie interviews to garner high ratings. iv) Size & ownership While it is unclear what the exact number of employees who work for 60 Minutes is - the presumably large number of both technical employess and administrative employees are unspecified - some of the major employment positions are quantified. 60 Minutes presently has: 11 correspondents 2 Senior Producers 1 Executive Producer 27 Producers 32 Associate Producers 2 directors 1 Executive Director and 1 Executive Story Editor 60 Minutes exists within the much larger CBS News division, which includes the following shows: CBS Evening News, The Early Show, 48 Hours Mystery, Sunday Morning, Face the Nation, and Upto the Minute. While there are not necessarily specific departments that divide the production, there are undoubtedly subject specialties. The show classifies its segments into the following categories: Newsmakers Politics Health and Science Business Sports Entertainmanet v) Producer Ladder & number of positions It is important to note that 60 Minutes is not an independent production, despite its longevity and success. It is a part of the much larger CBS News division, which produces a large amount of content for a range of other ews shows. That said, 60 Minutes is a unique program, the involvement in which would signify a person's desire to do work of a different naturethan CBS News' other programs. In light of this however, most opportunities (especially low-level opportunities) for working on the show come either through the wider news department, or by virtue of an individual's experience in wider journalistic or production endeavors. Things like internships and Production Assistance are handled through the news department, with no guarantee of being able to work for 60 Minutes specifically. Producers and Associate Producers tend to have a fair amount of outside prior experience working in (mostly) television journalism, many coming from other departments of CBS News. Current staff members seem to have gained most of their experience within the wide array of CBS News programs, though a handful worked with other CBS productions (mainly reality programming). Most served as associate producers for other shows or are credited as "news writers" for both 60 Minutes and other programs. While certianly these people came to the network with some prior experience, their careers seem to be largely to have been spent working for CBS. A couple of persons have experience with other networks, but for newsmagazine shows such as 20/20 or Dateline NBC. Internships: CBS News does have a large (and competitive) internship program in both New York and Washington, DC. The program is "an educational program designed for students intersted in pursuing a career in journalism, Broadcasting, or Communication." Internships are designed for students, and Fall and Spring semester applicants are accepted on a rolling basis. There is a summer program which selects students on a first-come, first-served basis (summer applications are not accepted after Feb. 28 of each year). SPRING: January to May The student arranges exact start and end date SUMMER: June to August Full time over the course of ten weeks FALL: September to December The student arranges exact start and end date Duties: Assignments vary day-to-day. Interns can expect to log tapes, coordinate script, research stories, conduct preliminary interviews, assist during shoots, select footage, perform light clerical duties and assist staff members. Requirements: Students who are currently attending an accredited college and have achieved junior or senior status are eligible. Students majoring in journalism, broadcasting or communications are preferred; other majors will be considered. Participants must have good computer skills, excellent written and verbal communication abilities and knowledge of current events. A 3.0 GPA or above is recommended. Students must be able to meet the minimum time commitment. Application Instructions: To apply, please submit an application, resume, cover letter, 2 letters of recommendation, school transcript and a letter of credit to: Katie Curcio Internship Coordinator, CBS News 524 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019 [email protected] (Fax) 212-975-6699 Download the application here: http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/ internship.pdf vi) Hiring Practices Current staff members seem to have gained most of their experience within the wide array of CBS News programs, though a handful worked with other CBS productions (mainly reality programming). Most served as associate producers for other shows or are credited as "news writers" for both 60 Minutes and other programs. While certianly these people came to the network with some prior experience, their careers seem to be largely to have been spent working for CBS. A couple of persons have experience with other networks, but for newsmagazine shows such as 20/20 or Dateline NBC. It seems quite likely that a number of employees gained experience via CBS internship program while studying media, communications, or journalism.
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