When “60 Minutes” first appeared on our television screens in 1968, news wasn’t entertainment.
Although entertaining, “60 Minutes” is not news veneer.
Sure, it features soft interviews with funny guys like Billy Crystal and Hollywood glams like Nicole Kidman, but the foundation of the news program is information served straight up.
We have producer Don Hewitt, who created the show’s magazine format, to thank for that.
On Monday, he announced that he’ll retire from the program at the close of the June 2004 television season.
He leaves behind a program with backbone that asks questions ordinary people want answers to.
Why do inmates have a constitutional right to health care when law-abiding citizens don’t?
How can the U.S. military explain the high domestic violence rate in its ranks?
How do so many counterfeit prescription drugs get to market, and what is the pharmaceutical industry doing to protect consumers?
How real is the danger from terrorists? And what are we doing to protect ourselves?
The program has a consumer slant, examining the effectiveness and safety of all sorts of merchandise, from acne medication to SUVs. It has examined the worthiness of medical degrees earned abroad, the science of fingerprint technology, the waste in government and the greed in the private sector.
With the exception of some hedging once done on a report examining the tobacco industry, there is no subject too controversial to tackle and no question too confrontational to ask.
There is also value in the presentation, with each “60 Minutes” carved into three segments and tagged with a humor piece. Watch all or some. Viewers aren’t trapped into an hour-long dramatization of a jury trial or cheery but forced banter between anchor and celebrity in promotion of some new film.
“60 Minutes” is the nation’s top-rated news magazine, followed only by its 4-year-old cousin, “60 Minutes II,” because it offers deep analysis in an otherwise shallow world of television. As the longest running show in prime-time, Hewitt honors viewers by believing in our intelligence. That’s a rare thing in a world where most TV executives play us for fools.
Service delivers
For years, the U.S. Postal Service office in Lewiston has done an abysmal job of shoveling the sidewalks around its office along Park and Ash streets. And for years we’ve criticized the lack of effort.
Not this year.
As other businesses have struggled to keep sidewalks clear of ice and snow, the Postal Service has delivered clear or near-clear walkways. People don’t have to clutch the signpost to steady themselves on ice as they turn from Ash onto Park, and the shoveled way affords more than single file passage.
The attention to clearing the walk is a welcome courtesy to pedestrians and customers.
Nice job.
jmeyer@sunjournal.com
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