Ira Rosen spent much of his career as a producer at 60 Minutes, the CBS news magazine that for decades set the standard for investigative television. In February 2021 St. Martin's Press published his memoir, Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes, and he discussed it at book festivals and author events that year.
What the book is about
The title refers to the stopwatch that ticks at the start and end of every episode. Rosen describes how stories were found, reported and shaped for broadcast, the pressure of deadlines, and the competition among correspondents and producers for airtime. He worked closely with some of the programme's most famous correspondents, and much of the book is about them.
The difficult parts
Reviewers noted that the book is candid about the programme's workplace culture. Rosen describes volatile and sometimes abusive behaviour by leading figures, rivalries and ego, and the toll it took on staff. Some readers found the portrait of revered journalists unsettling; others welcomed a less mythologised account of how celebrated journalism gets made.
Why it is worth reading
- For how investigations work. Long-form reporting depends on producers who find sources, check documents and persuade reluctant witnesses to talk. The book makes that work visible.
- For accountability journalism. 60 Minutes broke stories about government and corporate wrongdoing. Investigative reporting has also played a part in the Finucane case: the 2012 report credits journalists, including the television reporter John Ware, whose work brought evidence to light (chapter 1 guide).
- For media history. The book covers the decline of network news dominance and changes in the economics of television journalism.
A caution
Memoirs are one person's account. Some of the people Rosen describes have died and cannot respond, and others have offered different recollections. Read it as testimony, not a final verdict.