We all awoke to some sad news this morning. Renowned CBS News producer Don Hewitt passed away.
Hewitt was a legend in the news business, with a career spanning more than 60 years. He mentored some of the greatest journalists of the 20th Century – Edward R. Murrow, Fred Friendly, Mike Wallace, Dan Rather, the list goes on and on.
Among his many accomplishments–-too many to mention them all, frankly--he produced the first network television newscast in 1948. Think about that. Before Hewitt there was no evening news on TV. None. He did the first. He later launched the half-hour CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.
In 1960, he produced the first televised presidential debate between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Remember that one history buffs? Nixon refused make-up and looked tired and sweaty, which many blame for his loss. The lesson of looking good for the cameras caught on quickly, and presidential campaigns haven’t been the same since.
But Hewitt is perhaps best known as the mastermind behind what may very well be the most successful news magazine program in history: 60-Minutes. Millions of Americans tuned-in (and still tune-in) every week to see Hewitt's show, which set the standard for television investigative journalism.
Last year, we had a chance to interview Don Hewitt for our program, Conversations at KCTS 9. Hewitt had been honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. "I have maybe more Emmys than anybody else in television," Hewitt told us, "and I'd trade them all for one Edward R. Murrow Award."
Perhaps someday soon, accomplished television journalists will find themselves winning the Don Hewitt Award. Nothing could be more fitting.
Here, again, is our interview with Don Hewitt:
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