After nearly 20 years, Anderson Cooper officially signed off from the CBS news program 60 Minutes for the last time.
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During his final 60 Minutes broadcast on May 17, Cooper remained hopeful for the news program’s future.
“There’s very few things that have been around for as long as 60 Minutes has and [have been able to] maintain the quality that it has,” he stated. “Things can always evolve and change, and I think that’s awesome, and things should evolve and change.”
Cooper further shared, “But I hope the core of what 60 Minutes is always remains. I think the independence of 60 Minutes has been critical.”
“I think the trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of 60 Minutes,” he continued. “When you see a 60 Minutes story, and you’re like, ‘That was a really good story,’ it was a good story because it requires time, it requires patience, it requires money. I hope that’s known and honored and valued and continues.”
Cooper first appeared on 60 Minutes during the 2006-2007 season. He is also a longtime anchor at CNN.
The well-known journalist has spoken about juggling his time between CBS and CNN.
“The whole time I’ve done pieces on 60 Minutes, my full-time job has been over at CNN, and still is,” he pointed out. “It’s been really challenging to do the kind of work you need to do to have a great 60 Minutes piece on. CNN doesn’t like it if I take a lot of time off to work on a 60 Minutes piece, so I’ve worked mostly for 60 Minutes on weekends. My vacation time at CNN has been working on 60 Minutes pieces. I’ve loved it, but it’s been tough.”
Cooper Previously Stated Being a Correspondent at ’60 Minutes’ Has Been One of the ‘Greatest Honors’ of His Life
Earlier this year, Cooper called his position at 60 Minutes one of the “greatest honors” of his life.
“Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of the great honors of my career,
he shared in a statement to Variety. “I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors, and camera crews in the business.”
Cooper then revealed why he was leaving the news program. “For nearly twenty years, I’ve been able to balance my jobs at CNN and CBS, but I have little kids now.”
“And I want to spend as much time with them as possible,” he added. “While they want to spend time with me.”