Dream jobs are a myth, apparently. Even at 60 Minutes.
Steve Kroft, who spent 30 years as a correspondent for television's most prestigious news program, has admitted what many in high-pressure industries already know but rarely say out loud: the job that looks glamorous from the outside can be soul-crushing from within.
"I hated it," Kroft said of his time at 60 Minutes. "It's just 24 hours a day."
Let that sink in for a moment. A journalist who interviewed presidents, exposed corporate malfeasance, won Peabody Awards and Emmys, and became one of the most recognizable faces in broadcast news—hated the experience of achieving all of it.
This isn't surprising if you know anything about how 60 Minutes actually operates. The show is a prestige factory, which means it demands perfection at all times. Every story is scrutinized by layers of producers, fact-checkers, and lawyers. Deadlines are immovable. The competition among correspondents is fierce. And the expectation is that you'll sacrifice everything else—family, hobbies, sleep, sanity—for the work.
Kroft's honesty is refreshing because it punctures the mythology around "important" jobs. We're conditioned to believe that meaningful work equals fulfilling work, that if you're doing something significant, you shouldn't complain about the cost. Kroft is saying: actually, you can do important journalism and still resent the hell out of it.
This matters beyond just one correspondent's grievances. The television news industry—especially at the network level—is hemorrhaging talent precisely because the old model of "be grateful you work here" no longer holds. Younger journalists see legends like Kroft admit they were miserable and think, quite reasonably, "why would I want that?"
60 Minutes is still the gold standard of TV journalism. It's also, apparently, a brutal place to work. Both things can be true.
