60 Minutes II

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60 Minutes II
Format Newsmagazine Television Program
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Production
Running time 60 Minutes(Including Commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Original run January 13, 1999 – September 2, 2005

60 Minutes II, also known as 60 Minutes Wednesday and 60 Minutes (see Name changes), was a weekly primetime newsmagazine television program intended to replicate the "signature style, journalistic quality and integrity" of the original 60 Minutes series.

It aired on CBS on Wednesdays, then later moved to Fridays at 8 p.m. The original 60 Minutes continued airing on Sunday nights throughout the run of 60 Minutes II.

The first edition of 60 Minutes II ran on January 13, 1999. Its final airing was September 2, 2005.

Contents

[edit] Correspondents

The broadcast included original reporting from its team of correspondents and from other CBS News journalists. The program also featured updated reports on classic 60 Minutes stories.

Credited cast on 60 Minutes II included the following CBS correspondents: Dan Rather, Bob Simon, Charlie Rose, Vicki Mabrey, Scott Pelley and Lara Logan. The following correspondents also worked on segments for the program: Christiane Amanpour, Ed Gordon, Charles Grodin, Carol Marin and Jimmy Tingle.

[edit] Killian documents

Main article: Killian documents

60 Minutes II ran into controversy in September 2004 when the program staff received a set of documents which alleged that, while in the service of the Texas Air National Guard, President George W. Bush was declared unfit for duty and suspended from service. On September 8, 2004, in the middle of the 2004 Presidential election, Dan Rather went on the air on 60 Minutes II with the documents. The authenticity of these documents was quickly called into question by experts and critics. This became known as the Killian documents controversy (or "Rathergate").

For about two weeks Rather and his team stood by the story, but CBS later announced it could not vouch for the authenticity of the memos. The network stated that using the memos was a "mistake" and Rather apologized for the incident.[1][2] Their source, former Texas Army National Guard officer Bill Burkett, had misled a CBS producer about the source of the documents. The senior producer on the story, Mary Mapes, was fired, and three other producers involved in the story were asked to resign. It is often implied that Rather's subsequent retirement was tied to this incident.

[edit] Awards

60 Minutes II earned a number of awards, including several Emmy Awards and three Peabody Awards.[3]

[edit] Name changes

60 Minutes II was renamed 60 Minutes by CBS for the fall of 2004 to signify its quality. CBS News president Andrew Heyward stated at the time, "The Roman numeral II created some confusion on the part of the viewers and suggested a watered-down version."[4]

After the Killian documents controversy, the show was renamed 60 Minutes Wednesday to differentiate it from the original 60 Minutes Sunday edition. The show reverted to its original title on July 8, 2005, when the show moved to the 8 p.m. Friday timeslot, where it completed its run.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Dan Rather Statement On Memos", CBS News, September 20, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-03-20. 
  2. ^ "CBS Names Memo Probe Panel", CBS News, September 22, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-03-20. 
  3. ^ Program Facts. CBS News (July 5, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-03-31.
  4. ^ "'60 Minutes' times 2; Eye spinoff renamed after original newsmag", Daily Variety, May 19, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-03-31.