Former 60 Minutes Producer Finds Fulfillment in Teaching

By Mary Hooper

Photo by Whitney Martin

When guests visit Mike Whitney’s home in the Texas Hill Country, the first thing they notice is 23 National News Emmys lined up across the television cabinet. It elicits a funny reaction for visitors, Whitney says – especially if guests mistake the statues for Oscars. “Which we’ll let them believe for a while,” he laughs.

Whitney’s 23 Emmys, three Peabody Awards and two RTNDA/Edward R. Murrow Awards reflect 48 years in the journalism industry, starting as a copy boy at the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper in his hometown of Rochester, NY. His radio career began in 1973 as a news writer, and he worked his way through the industry ending as a senior broadcast producer for 60 Minutes.

Now, Whitney is using his experience to teach J315 as an adjunct professor. While his background is not print-based, he believes the fundamentals of the journalism industry are the same across media.

“The foundation of everything we do as journalists is gathering information, and writing a good story about it,” Whitney says.

Even as he sees the journalism industry changing, Whitney believes the fundamentals will stay the same. Now far beyond the days of black and white film that ruled the television industry in his beginning days, Whitney points to new technology in the business, and even entire new media like the Internet, as both an advantage and a disadvantage. While people have access to more information at real-time, “there’s a lot more crap on,” he says.

Whitney remembers broadcasts while he worked at the CBS Morning News as somber, heavy half-hour shows, concentrated on events in Washington. Talking heads on cable news shows, he says, is affecting the journalism industry and perception of it.

The novelty of Whitney’s career never became dull to him. “To finally work with Mike Wallace, to be working with Dan Rather – that’s heady company,” he says. “These are legendary people who had been such an eyewitness to so much history, and part of the history of our business.”

Through his work at the CBS Miami bureau, and as a senior broadcast producer at 60 Minutes, Whitney says he had the chance to relay meaningful information to people. Most of his Emmys resulted from work on 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II. One resulted from special coverage after the death of Princess Diana, where Whitney served as co-executive producer.

Covering such monumental events proved to be a challenge at times. “Journalists have mixed emotions – we empathize for the victims, but our adrenaline gets going because there’s some huge stories, and we’re honored to be a part of it, cover it, find out about it – and share what we learn with the viewers,” he says.

Still, covering events was especially difficult when they hit close to home – having to cover the difficult events like Sept. 11 was one of the reasons Whitney eventually left the industry. As Miami bureau chief, Whitney’s home and family were sometimes affected by the same hurricanes he coordinated coverage on, and he was living in New York City during Sept. 11. “We learn to compartmentalize our feelings,” he says. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to concentrate well enough to tell everybody else what happened.”

In 2006, Whitney says he reached a point in his career at which there were not many job positions left that would keep him fulfilled and entertained. He and his wife were seeking a different lifestyle – he had been working out of hectic New York City and she had been living in their home in Florida.

His retirement was not unnoticed by his colleagues at 60 Minutes – correspondent Mike Wallace did a costumed routine to “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” in a retirement video for Whitney, which also featured correspondents Morley Safer, Bob Simon and Scott Pelley performing “Happy Trails.”

Whitney had always thought about returning to teaching – he taught journalism at Marymount Manhattan College in the 70s, and also taught journalism to officers and enlistees in the Army during the Vietnam War. Since spring 2007, he has enjoyed using his writing and editing experience to help develop journalism students at UT. “I see students do so much better at the end (of the course) than they did at the beginning. It’s helpful to them, and rewarding to me,” Whitney says.

While teaching broadcast or television-oriented classes in the future is an option, Whitney says he is happy to be doing just what he is right now. “I like spending time with people who are twenty years old – there’s something rejuvenating about that,” he says.

Teaching is also helping to keep Whitney informed, as he continues to watch the industry of journalism change, as well as how the School of Journalism stays current with trends in the real world. Staying ahead of the curve, he says, is essential. “Ten years ago, you wouldn’t have guessed that people would get news on cell phones,” Whitney says as he ponders what the future of the industry may look like.