Another broadcast giant - Don Hewitt - died this week. While he was best known as the founding, long-time executive producer of CBS' "60 Minutes," he was about much more than that program.
Television news and Hewitt basically began together; he came to CBS in 1948 and either came up with or worked pioneering ideas, including the "supers" that identified people onscreen (Although, ironically enough, "60 Minutes" has never used them.). Whether it was political conventions, nightly newscasts or presidential debates, Hewitt was there at the beginning.
"60 Minutes" was also a beginning, for the newsmagazine program. Dismissed as flashy at the beginning, it has turned into the gold standard for television journalism. And if Hewitt was good, the long list of long-time correspondents for the program - Mike Wallace, Harry Reasoner, Morley Safer, Dan Rather, Ed Bradley, Diane Sawyer, Steve Kroft, Lesley Stahl - made him look even better with their reporting skills, as did the even longer list of producers working with the correspondents.
USA Today has a timeline of Hewitt's career:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-08-19-hewitt-highlights_N.htm
His legacy remains in the little details on newscasts - and every Sunday night at 7 on CBS.
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Rabbit Ears will take a week off. See you the week of September 4. Until then, Happy Viewing!
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