I was hired by Rupert Murdoch in 1995 to be President of Fox News and to create a news organization. There was a lot of resistance among Fox executives, who did not want older skewing news programming on their network. Nonetheless, I hired about 40 producers, reporters and technicians. We did network news specials and I created a program called Fox News Sunday with Tony Snow.Fourteen months later Rupert hired Roger Ailes as Chairman of News and Cable, a breach of my contract. Roger, who I knew from Washington, said to me, "I need you, I don't know anything about news." But he also asked me why I was a "liberal" having worked for the "communist broadcasting system." When I found out he asked the same question to some on my staff, I resigned. Because of my earlier experiences in China, I left Ailes' office and headed straight for the Spence Chapin adoption agency. Ten months later my wife and I travelled to China to meet our daughter. Zoe is now 17 years old.
CBS News was my home for 25 years. I was an executive producer, senior producer and field producer for the first seventeen years, covering the White House, international presidential summits and wars. Walter Cronkite brought me from the CBS News Chicago bureau to Washington in 1979. I produced hundreds of pieces for CBS News. Working with correspondents, I researched and pitched stories; I lined up interviews and elements; I directed cameramen on what to shoot; I organized and wrote or edited scripts; I guided editors on what video and soundbites to use; and I created whatever graphics were needed. I produced spot news packages, live segments and feature reports. (I do not possess any of my news packages.)
I was promoted to Washington bureau chief in 1987 where I oversaw all editorial coverage. Eighteen months later I was promoted to vice president and assistant to the president of news and moved to New York. In the latter role I served as the division's number two executive and for six years ran all its newsgathering, news programs, including 60 Minutes and the Evening News, and program development. I was instrumental in setting up CBS News Productions, which produced programs, such as The Twentieth Century with Mike Wallace and On The Road with Charles Kuralt, for cable channels. I was the lead in merger negotiations with CNN, which I derailed.
I was the lead executive for many great stories, both breaking news (Iraq War, Pan Am 103, the Clinton presidency), election and news specials and I approved segments for magazine programs, including 60 Minutes. In 1989, I sent the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather to China to cover Gorbachev's historic visit. The story turned into the Tiananmen Square student uprising. For several days I led CBS News coverage of the remarkable events from controlroom 47. The Chinese officials appeared in our Beijing office and demanded we shut our satellite down. Dan and his team conferred with me, I said we would comply. However, I had Dan delay the Chinese for an hour. That was because I wanted it done live in the east and Midwest local newscasts, and prime time in the western US. They agreed to wait. So shortly before 11:30pm ET, Dan Rather signaled for the CBS News technician to pull the plug before millions of viewers. The live feed turned to hash. Here's a brief reflection on from Dan Rather:Link to Watch CBS News ordered off the air by the Chinese government.