By Brandon Penny, RTDNA Editorial Team

Keynote speaker Jeff Fager, Chairman of CBS News and Executive Producer for “60 Minutes," spoke before a packed crowd of journalists at the 2011 Excellence in Journalism conference about his experiences at “60 Minutes” and how real reporting can succeed in a multimedia platform.

In an exclusive interview before the session (view below), Fager discussed the current state of investigative reporting.

“There isn’t enough investigative reporting in the world today,” Fager said.  “And I think a lot of people shy away from it because it’s expensive and it’s difficult and it takes a lot of time… We succeed at “60 Minutes” by doing it and by caring about it and by working hard to make it as interesting as we can because there is a place for it and I think there’s a hunger for it out there.”



Here are several key messages and standout quotes from Fager’s discusson:

•    CBS choosing Fager as Chairman of CBS News in February was a sign that the network liked what it saw on “60 Minutes” and would like the rest of CBS News to look more like that.

•    “60 Minutes is good at real news, original reporting from experienced reporters and covering important stories,” Fager said.

•    If you have your mind made up before leaving to report a story you tend to leave mitigating factors out.

•    Never trust a document, no matter what.  “We were not proud of the Bush document story, until all of CBS News was reeling from the accusations that the documents were phony.”

•    60 Minutes needed to change from an excessive amount of evergreens to more investigative reporting.

•    “Americans want good reporting about the important stories of our lives… We work towards a healthy mix of stories with adventures and profiles and stories we want to do just because they’re interesting,” Fager said.

•    “I think people mix up the meaning of hard news to mean serious news, and it’s not,” Fager said.

•    13.5 million people watched “60 Minutes” each Sunday last season; 121 million people watched “60 Minutes” at least once last year, while American Idol was second.  “The numbers contradict what I’ve heard a lot of smart news people say about the state of television,” Fager said.

•    On paying for news content: “We are not going to do that at CBS News,” Fager said.  “If there’s ever any suggestion that we have to pay for something we just walk away and find another story.”

•    Fager felt strongly in 2004 about “60 Minutes” needing to have a presence online.  “But video didn’t play well on the internet which tells you how fast and how far it’s come.”

•    “I believe so strongly in Facebook and Twitter and the idea that you can go online and in seconds share one of our stories with your friends.”

•    He believes “60 Minutes” proves that if you do important news coverage and you do it well you can get a good audience.

•    “The average gestation [of a “60 Minutes” piece] is three months, but we turn them in three days; sometimes we spend 3 years on a story.”

•    Student newspapers and local stations try to cover too much; we don’t do stories about issues, we cover stories; that’s probably the number one mistake students make, they try to cover all sides of a story instead of getting down deep in a story,” Fager said.

•    “I love it when someone comes into “60 Minutes” at an entry-level position and contributes as much as they can and they’re never above something.”

•    “Our plan [at “60 Minutes”] is to beef up Afghanistan and spend more money there; I think it’s so important, I don’t think there’s anything more important,” Fager said.

•    On the “slower pace” of CBS News:  “I really believe that you don’t have a chance to go back and read that paragraph again; I disagree with the philosophy that a time should be set on a story, I believe a story should be given the time that it needs.”