Don Hewitt forever changed the face of journalism with his program 60 Minutes. Don Hewitt was one of the pioneering forces behind television and helped shaping the modern television. He was the producer and/or director when
CBS covered such events like the first broadcast presidential debate in 1960; the 1963 JFK assassination; and the late sixties space missions. However, Hewitt's major breakthrough was with the aforementioned 60 Minutes, which was the only
news program ever that reached #1 in Neilsen's nation top television programs.
Don Hewitt was born in December 14, 1922 in New York City as Donald Shepard Hewitt. Both of his parents were of Jewish descent. His family moved to Boston shortly after his birth. His family kept on moving, and finally settled down in New York, where Hewitt was writing the sports column of his school's newspaper. Hewitt was very keen on the movies and spent countless hours in movie theaters, which later proved to be really useful. He started working as a copyboy in New York Herald Tribune, but then moved to Memphis, and then moved again to New York, after he met his wife Mary Weaver. He then lived in New York City for most of his life. He had two sons from his first marriage and two daughters from his second marriage.
After working at a photo agency, he was contacted by
CBS for television, as they needed a director for television broadcasting. Hewitt was the producer-director of the
news broadcasts of the company. He was also the first director of the "See it Now" series, and worked alongside such historical television figures as Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly. He continued working for
CBS, and rightfully so. He was the inventor of "supers" or explanatory text on the bottom of the screen, and was the first who introduced politicians to the television screen, allowing the flow of much needed advertising money to television.
After many years of work with
CBS, he came up with a new program, 60 Minutes, which is now considered his best work. His new program was introduced in 1968, and was the first TV show that focused on both the interviewer and the interviewee. The focus was on the investigating reporter for the first time since television was invented, and the hard/soft news mix allowed 60 Minutes to remain in the top ratings for a whopping two decades. His inspiration for the program largely came from the work as the director of "See it Now", the first truly popular television program.
For some time, Hewitt was quite disregarded as a newsman, because 60 Minutes had more entertainment than journalistic value. Don was among the first who dared to make news for people-even if 'news for people' meant entertaining them, and that is why he'll always be remembered in journalism. Hewitt made television more accessible for the average person, and his crucial innovations in television have made the modern television which was clouded by the radio, and is now being stomped on by the internet.
