Every few years, the men and women of 60 Minutes take a group portrait. Never before has it looked quite like this one.
On a recent afternoon, famed photographer Mark Seliger captured the season 59 team—correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Norah O’Donnell, Jon Wertheim and Ross Douthat, and contributors Gianna Toboni, Sebastian Junger, Ariel Levy, Sir Trevor Phillips and Matt Gutman—at New York City’s Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station.
The place holds special meaning for CBS News. Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Douglas Edwards all broadcast from Grand Central Terminal, which served as the pioneering home for CBS Television Studios from 1939 until 1964. And Murrow’s “See It Now” and “Person to Person” series were recorded above the Oyster Bar in the early days of television.
It was from this spot that Murrow went on air with some of his most consequential broadcasts, including his March 1954 takedown of Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy in which he said, among other things, that “we must not confuse dissent with disloyalty,” and that “we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.”
“We couldn’t think of a more iconic place to take this picture—nor a better photographer to capture this singular group. Seliger captured the essence of this team in one breathtaking image,” 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton said.
Seliger is a longtime photographer for Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, who has earned national awards for his portraiture.
“I wanted the photograph to capture the character of these ten remarkable journalists, both individually and as a group. The Oyster Bar was the perfect destination, infused with its own history and character,” Seliger said. “Bringing ten people together in one frame can be a challenge, but with this team there was an immediate chemistry and a real sense of connection. You could feel the history of 60 Minutes, but also the energy of where it’s going. That’s what I hoped would come through in the photograph.”
“These images are a perfect homage to CBS News’ broadcast beginnings where Cronkite and Murrow reported the news as we head into the 59th season of which set the foundation for 60 Minutes,” Bilton said.
The new season premieres Sunday, Sept. 13 and will feature the first interview with the U.S. Air Force officer at the center of one of the most complex rescue operations in military history — he spent two days behind enemy lines in Iran before he was rescued. The premiere will also profile the Los Angeles Rams, this year’s favorite to win the Super Bowl.
Watch the premiere Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network or on Paramount+.
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