A former correspondent for “60 Minutes,” Steve Kraft, has labeled the show as a “snake pit” characterized by a “lack of civility.”
Having spent 30 years at CBS’s renowned program, Kraft recently shared his thoughts on Bill O’Reilly’s podcast, stating that if he had the opportunity to do it all over again, he would likely decline. “I hated it,” he remarked.
At 80 years old, Kraft described his experience not as a dream job but rather as a challenging and psychologically draining environment that became increasingly tiring with time.
Kraft emphasized the relentless nature of the job, noting it demanded attention “24 hours a day,” involving constant travel, writing, editing, and filming, without any chance for rest.
“I’d get maybe a few hours of downtime, and then I’d be back on a plane, writing for days before it started again,” he explained during his Thursday conversation on O’Reilly’s “We’ll Do It Live” podcast.
This rapid pace didn’t allow much room to breathe, ultimately rendering the position unhappy despite its esteemed reputation.
However, it was the workplace culture that received Kraft’s strongest criticism. Before joining “60 Minutes,” he had been warned by Dan Rather about the tough atmosphere. Rather described the newsroom as a domain of “big cats” who could metaphorically leave him “limp for six months.”
Kraft indicated that this warning proved to be accurate upon his arrival. “There was no civility at ’60 Minutes,'” he stated, portraying a workplace rife with suspicion where even simple politeness might lead to ulterior motives.
The environment swiftly turned colleagues into rivals, Kraft noted. “When I got nominated to appear on the show, not everyone felt positive about it; suddenly, I had a lot of enemies,” he recalled. “It’s just a… snake pit.”
This intense competition fostered an atmosphere of paranoia within newsrooms, with many journalists eyeing their peers as potential threats, he explained.
Kraft also shared a memory of interviewing Bill and Hillary Clinton during the 1992 campaign amidst allegations of Clinton’s affair with Jennifer Flowers. The interview quickly came together when the campaign misjudged the situation, expecting a standard exchange instead of a deeper inquiry into the scandal.
When Kraft asked a seemingly simple question about Jennifer Flowers, it caught Clinton off guard as he attempted to deny the claims while Hillary supported him. Following the interview, Hillary chastised Kraft for his so-called “mean questions,” which triggered a backlash from leadership and solidified the interview’s significance in the campaign.
Kraft reflected on this moment, expressing that it shaped his perception of Bill Clinton. He echoed O’Reilly’s assertion that Clinton was “not an honest person,” noting that during the scandal-plagued campaign, “if you wanted to stay in this election, you had to lie.”
He departed from the show in 2019.
Recently, CBS News’s new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, has announced plans for a significant overhaul of “60 Minutes” following this season, as reported earlier this week.
This revamp comes on the heels of the merger of Paramount and Skydance, indicating a broader effort by the new leadership to realign the programming’s editorial vision.
Changes have led to unrest within newsrooms, instigating conflicts over editorial choices, potential layoffs, and uncertainty regarding key figures. Weiss, alongside executives, aims to create a younger, restructured lineup that reflects their new direction.
CBS News and the Clintons have been approached for comments.
