Tom Bettag

Tom Bettag was interviewed for two hours in Washington, D. C.  Bettag talked about his educational background in journalism and the influence of Fred Friendly, who Bettag studied under at Columbia University.  He chronicled his career at CBS as he moved up the ranks through the late ‘60s and ‘70s, ultimately serving as senior producer of the CBS Morning News.  He discussed a pivotal moment in his career when he decided to accept a demotion in job title to allow him to get more field experience, before returning to news producing.  He discussed working with Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News and the transition to Dan Rather as news anchor.  Bettag spoke in detail about the journalistic style of both Cronkite and Rather.  He talked about his tenure as executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather from 1986-91 and listed some of the important milestones of the broadcast.  He then talked about his long association as executive producer of ABC News Nightline.  He described the daily schedule of assembling the show, the changes he made in the working methods of the staff, and commented on anchor Ted Koppel’s strengths as a broadcaster.  The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on June 14, 2005.