Steve Kroft: I 'Hated' 60 Minutes Culture
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- Steve Kroft told Bill O'Reilly he 'hated' 60 Minutes' competitive culture and 'probably wouldn't' repeat his 30-year tenure as a correspondent on the program.
- Kroft described colleagues as 'so paranoid' about being backstabbed and called the environment a 'snake pit' where getting tapped for the show 'made a bunch of enemies.'
- Kroft said he preferred his earlier role as CBS's London bureau correspondent, which he called 'the job I always wanted' for the travel and reporting it offered.
- The 60 Minutes grind was '24 hours a day,' Kroft said — beepers, jets, three or four days writing scripts, screenings, then starting the cycle over.
- Kroft's resume includes multiple Emmys, Peabody Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, reporting on the Gulf War and Chernobyl, 17 interviews with Barack Obama, and the infamous 1992 joint interview with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
- Kroft conceded the work was 'exhilarating,' and that the adrenaline of reporting in dangerous conditions — including during the Vietnam War — partly fueled the appeal because 'you get excited about the fact that you're still alive.'
Why it matters: Kroft accumulated three decades, multiple Emmys, 17 Obama sit-downs, and landmark reporting on Chernobyl and the Gulf War — and still says the grind made him miserable. His candor reframes 60 Minutes' prestige as a double-edged sword: the dream assignment that quietly burned out one of its most decorated correspondents, raising real questions about whether the show's relentless pace is sustainable for top-tier talent.
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