"Don may yawn at the idea, which he often does, but the great thing about Don, he has confidence in me and Mike and Ed and Leslie and Steve, that we're not going go out and do stories that will put people to sleep"
About this Quote
Don Hewitt’s yawn is doing double duty here: it’s an insult masquerading as an editorial tool, a physical shorthand for the ruthless boredom test that made 60 Minutes both feared and addictive. Morley Safer frames it with a light touch, but the jab lands. “Don may yawn at the idea” isn’t just a joke about temperament; it’s a declaration that in television journalism, attention is the first gatekeeper of truth. If the pitch can’t survive the room, it won’t survive the couch.
Safer’s real move is the pivot from intimidation to trust. Hewitt’s skepticism isn’t described as cruelty or caprice; it’s part of a compact. The “great thing” isn’t that the boss is easy, it’s that he’s hard and still believes in the correspondents enough to let them swing. The roster of first names reads like a roll call of institutional voice, and Safer is quietly defending a culture where strong personalities and strong reporting are supposed to coexist. He’s telling you: yes, the place runs on blunt judgments, but the bluntness is in service of standards, not ego (at least in the best version of the myth).
Context matters: 60 Minutes built its brand on narrative propulsion and moral clarity packaged as entertainment. Safer’s line admits the tightrope without apologizing for it. “Stories that will put people to sleep” is the nightmare scenario, not because sleep is immoral, but because boredom is the fastest way a public stops listening - and a newsroom stops mattering.
Safer’s real move is the pivot from intimidation to trust. Hewitt’s skepticism isn’t described as cruelty or caprice; it’s part of a compact. The “great thing” isn’t that the boss is easy, it’s that he’s hard and still believes in the correspondents enough to let them swing. The roster of first names reads like a roll call of institutional voice, and Safer is quietly defending a culture where strong personalities and strong reporting are supposed to coexist. He’s telling you: yes, the place runs on blunt judgments, but the bluntness is in service of standards, not ego (at least in the best version of the myth).
Context matters: 60 Minutes built its brand on narrative propulsion and moral clarity packaged as entertainment. Safer’s line admits the tightrope without apologizing for it. “Stories that will put people to sleep” is the nightmare scenario, not because sleep is immoral, but because boredom is the fastest way a public stops listening - and a newsroom stops mattering.
Quote Details
| Topic | Team Building |
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