Oprah Winfrey’s TV career looks like it’s about to get a lot more political. The media magnate will join CBS’ long-running “60 Minutes” as a special contributor in the fall, the network announced Tuesday.
Stating that the program ― which first featured her as a subject in 1986 ― “represents the bastion of journalistic storytelling” for her, the former “Oprah Winfrey Show” host gave insight into the types of stories she’ll be reporting.
“At a time when people are so divided, my intention is to bring relevant insight and perspective, to look at what separates us, and help facilitate real conversations between people from different backgrounds,” Winfrey told CBS News.
While her eponymous talk show ran for 25 years and won many daytime Emmys, Winfrey got her start in the business as a local TV reporter. At 19, she became a news co-anchor on Nashville’s WTVF-TV, and at 22 relocated to Baltimore to co-anchor an evening weekday newscast and, later, a talk show on the city’s WJZ channel. After moving to Chicago, she hosted a successful morning talk show, “AM Chicago,” on WLS-TV.
“There is only one Oprah Winfrey,” “60 Minutes” executive producer Jeff Fager told CBS News. “Her body of work is extraordinary, including thousands of interviews with people from all walks of life.”
Since her talk show ended its run in 2011, Winfrey has kept busy with her production company Harpo ― which produced 2014’s “Selma” ― along with her cable network and philanthropic pursuits.
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