Morley Safer, 1931-2016
CREDIT: CBS Photo Archive
60 Minutes has always been a special place for me — the format hasn’t changed much in decades, and yet it still remains a sacred ground for storytelling and journalism. That’s thanks in part to Don Hewitt, who created the show and knew the best way to keep it relevant was to hire the best storytellers in the business.
Morley Safer was one of those storytellers. He died today at the age of 84, just a week after he retired from 60 Minutes. Although his age showed in recent years, his ability to find the heart of a good story was as sharp as ever. He and his trademark style will be sorely missed.
I wanted to share this picture of Safer in 1975 (on the far left) with three of the show’s other legends — from left to right: Dan Rather, Mike Wallace, and Hewitt. It’s always humbling to see photos like this, candid images of stories being crafted by some of television’s greatest news figures. And while three of the four men in the picture are gone (Rather is still alive; he was born just a few days earlier than Safer), their legacies still live on with journalists all around the world.
I’m happy to be one of those journalists, and I only hope I have a career as colorful and enduring as the one that Morley Safer created for himself.
JUSTIN BURTON, MBA 