Recent Bill Owens Commentaries

Featured image for “What’s the Cost of Integrity? Why 60 Minutes Matters Now More Than Ever”
What’s the Cost of Integrity? Why 60 Minutes Matters Now More Than Ever
Week after week, CBS’s 60 Minutes has done what journalism is supposed to do: hold those in power accountable, no matter the cost. The current cost: The Trump administration has responded with threats, lawsuits, and efforts to silence dissent through sheer intimidation. The most recent episode took viewers to Ukraine, where correspondent Scott Pelley interviewed President Zelenskyy at a bombed...
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May 21, 2025
Featured image for “It’s Called Integrity”
It’s Called Integrity
After nearly four decades at CBS News, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, stepped down on April 22, 2025. His reason was simple and direct: editorial independence, once a given, was no longer assured. Owens’ departure follows mounting legal and political pressure, including a $20 billion lawsuit by former President Donald Trump and uncertainty over CBS’s sale to...
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April 28, 2025
Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
Integrity and Elliot Richardson
The measure of a public servant isn’t how tightly they hold onto power, but how faithfully they hold their integrity when the pressure to bend...
America’s Moral Crossroad
Writer David Brooks is rarely prone to hyperbole and often resists the easy pull of partisanship. A thoughtful conservative who has moved toward the center,...
What Real Leadership Looks Like
I happened across Frances Perkins while searching files at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. She was the first woman in U.S. history to serve...
Welcome to Caesar’s Palace East
In addition to dismantling federal agencies and undercutting states’ rights, Donald Trump has launched a systematic assault on the foundations of American democracy. He’s attacked...
Searching for Our Better Angels
I’ve read and re-read Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address many times. Today, its words and meaning echo more loudly than ever. “Both parties deprecated war; but...
Integrity and George W. Norris
In every generation, there are a few public servants who stand as reminders of what political courage truly means. George W. Norris, the five-term Republican...