Broadcasting & Cable
Friends, family and colleagues gathered to celebrate the life and career of Don Hewitt Oct. 19 at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall. The creator and executive producer of “60 Minutes” died Aug. 19 of pancreatic cancer. He was 86.
“Don Hewitt was an exceptional man,” said Jeff Fager, who took over as executive producer of “60 Minutes” after Hewitt reluctantly retired in 2004.
“He believed in great journalism. He detested fluff,” Fager added. “Don was direct. His candor was refreshing. In a world filled with ambiguity; Don told it like it is.”
Hewitt’s journalism career began in 1942 when he landed a job as a copy boy at the New York Herald Tribune. He joined CBS News in 1948 as a director of the first television newscast with Douglas Edwards. He also directed “See It Now with Edward R. Murrow.” And he was the executive producer of the first half-hour network newscast when the “CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite” went from 15 minutes to a half-hour format in 1963.More…