Sunday, May 9, 2021

60 Minutes' Mike Wallace (and his darker side) On This Day in History

 

This Day in History: American journalist Mike Wallace was born on this day in 1918. He is best known for his work on CBS' 60 Minutes, which debuted in 1968. Wallace interviewed many politicians, celebrities, and academics, such as Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Pearl S. Buck, Deng Xiaoping, Ronald Reagan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Yasser Arafat, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, Manuel Noriega, John Nash, Gordon B. Hinckley, Vladimir Putin, Maria Callas, Salvador Dalí, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Aldous Huxley, and Ayn Rand.

In Ira Rosen's new book, Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes, he describes Mike Wallace as notoriously difficult to work with. In an interview with Sharyl Attkisson he stated, "What you do, what I did was I went into a cone of silence and when we were driving once down I-5 in LA and he was yelling and screaming at me, the shoot didn't go particularly well. And he was ripping my notebook and he was throwing papers at me and he was covering the windshield, I couldn't see very much. And I began to chant a Buddhist chant and just to get into the zone and away from the abuse that I was experiencing. He said years later upon reflecting about how he treated his producers, he said I was tough on them, but the stuff I turned out was first rate. And a lot of the producers over the years never really forgave him for the way that he treated, because no matter how good the work was, and it was great work, it didn't require him to be yelling at you and screaming at you and to go through that." http://fullmeasure.news/news/one-on-one-interviews/ticking-clock

Wallace had also suffered from bouts of depression and even tried to commit suicide.

See Mike Wallace do a segment on the failed Government vaccine rollout in the 1970's to battle the Swine Flu. 

As great as a show that 60 Minutes used to be, it didn't always get it right:

Fact Check: Where 60 Minutes Got it Wrong

60 Minutes Got It Wrong

60 Minutes apologizes for Benghazi report

Why Hasn't the Mainstream Media Pilloried 60 Minutes for Spreading Misinformation?

What's wrong with '60 Minutes'?

60 Minutes & Shale Gas Misinformation

‘60 Minutes’ Shows Danger of Media Manipulation

"60 Minutes" of Mistakes



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