Kenneth Sturtz

Journalist. History and magic buff. First Amendment fan. @syrpressclub board. @boyscouts committee member.

[Brinda Adhikari @brindaadhikari]

I worked at CBS News for almost 6 years. It was a place that frequently drove me crazy bc of how resistant it was to change. How difficult it was to get things done bc you had to fight so many people and their “Cronkite and Murrow would roll over in their graves if they saw” mentality.

For those who think Scott Pelley was part of the problem, you are wrong. Yes he could be rigid and a stickler for certain traditions. But I will tell you now the Gen Z people I worked w all loved him. Like me, they forgave a lot of his boomer ways bc we were in awe of investigations he did using hidden cameras exposing snake oil salesmen hurting Americans; showing us how Assad was using chemical weapons on his own people; the pain of rural Americans waiting for half a day to get affordable healthcare in a parking lot of a mobile clinic; his searing interviews w survivors of mass shootings.

Yeah he was old fashioned in some ways. I used to tease him bc he always had trouble pronouncing Beyoncé’s name.

But he was willing to be pushed. He was open to new ideas. The fact that someone like me and someone like him got along so well is proof of that. The guy made me a better thinker and a better journalist.

[Dylan Byers @DylanByers]

New statement from Scott Pelley:

There has never been anything in America like 60 Minutes.

The Sunday tradition is the most successful program of any kind in history. For more than a decade, its innovative growth on every major online platform has extended its reach to countless millions around the world. This spring, at the end of our 58thseason, 60 Minutes grew rapidly with an unheard-of 9% jump in viewers on CBS.

“60” has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories. When stewardship of the program passed to my colleagues and me, our responsibility was to expand energetically into a new age of media technology while preserving the values our audience expects. Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.

The waste is heartbreaking.

Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.

For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc. In a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all.

At 60 Minutes, we have fought harder than anyone knows to save the program that became an American icon. We owed that to our millions of viewers. I am deeply moved by the thousands of wishes we have received to “keep up the good fight.” Most of the men and women of CBS News are still in that fight. But now the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.

I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion—a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again—a day when sanity, competence, and courage return.

Scott Pelley

[NWS Fairbanks @NWSFairbanks]

☀️ Today in Utqiagvik (the northernmost city in the United States), the sun rose above the horizon at 2:57 AM and won’t set again for 84 straight days or until August 2nd! Here's a look at a timelapse showing the sunset and sunrise this morning. #akwx

[sean kirst @seankirst]

There were stories in Syracuse that you could do the easy way or you could speak with the people no one else bothers to find. @jstein_star embraced the latter, and thus the emotional ladder, toward the Pulitzer.

[Kenneth Sturtz @re4cows]

@jstein_star has done some great journalism since he cut his teeth out of college with @syracusedotcom but his passion for the work hasn't changed.
https://t.co/o4Y95Hdo5b

[Kenneth Sturtz @re4cows]

@jstein_star @syracusedotcom @washingtonpost Can't wait to see what you do next!

[Kenneth Sturtz @re4cows]

If you haven't heard, my former @syracusedotcom colleague, @jstein_star, was part of the @washingtonpost team that received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their coverage of the Trump administration. Congrats Jeff!!!
https://t.co/3jRAMtODsG

[Jeff Stein @jstein_star]

I tried rereading Caro as inspiration for the biography I’m writing but I felt so depressed by how much better it was that I just went to the couch and took the afternoon off. Like I was a 6 year old with a crayon trying to imitate the Mona Lisa

[Kenneth Sturtz @re4cows]

Quite a story. It took 47 years.
https://t.co/DsZVQN6BiN

[Jeremy R. Hansen @Astro_Jeremy]

Every time I look up at the Moon now, even the one at Space Center Houston, it feels different.

It’s no longer just a distant light in the night sky — it’s a place I’ve studied up close with my own eyes. I find myself tracing its features, recognizing the shadows, the craters, the quiet stories written across its surface.

The Moon hasn’t changed, but now when I observe it, it comes back to life in my mind with a new and treasured perspective.

[Reid Wiseman @astro_reid]

Jesse, Steve, Laddy, and Vlad….such an incredible feeling to welcome you aboard Integrity after a nearly 700,000 mile journey. Forever thankful for your service to our crew and the nation.

[NASA @NASA]

Hello, Moon. It’s great to be back.

Here’s a taste of what the Artemis II astronauts photographed during their flight around the Moon. Check out more photos from the mission: https://t.co/rzM1P0QbOl

[NASA @NASA]

Sweet dreams, @NASAArtemis II crew.

One last look at the Moon before flight day six and your epic lunar flyby, taking you farther into space than humans have EVER traveled.

[Reid Wiseman @astro_reid]

There are no words.

[Peter Baker @peterbakernyt]

These should be household names: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. They are set to be the first humans to go to the moon in more than a half century. While not landing, they will travel further from home than anyone. @TimBella https://t.co/VOpzWUOgaT

[John Kraus @johnkrausphotos]

If you were born after 19:45:58 UTC on December 19, 1972, you have not been alive during a time when a crewed lunar spaceflight was underway.

This is approximately 75% of the global population.

That could change as soon as Wednesday evening with the planned launch of Artemis II.

Hundreds of thousands of people near Kennedy Space Center will see the launch with their own eyes and likely millions will watch live online.

If you can't make it out in person, I hope you'll tune in and watch as NASA makes its first attempt to send Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen into space and around the Moon this week.

It is not often you have the opportunity to witness a historic moment in real time. Please watch and soak it in, and after launch, look up at the Moon and smile knowing that our great return to the lunar environment is well underway.

Godspeed, Artemis II!

[NASA Artemis @NASAArtemis]

Our Artemis II crew will be going around the Moon, but they'll always find their way back home 🌎

During this complex journey, the four astronauts will travel ~685,000 miles on a trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth.

See their daily agenda: https://t.co/172PVtri2Z

[Reid Wiseman @astro_reid]

I love post-apocalyptic thrillers and I have to say…the entrance to our crew quarantine facility sets the right tone

[Jeff Stein @jstein_star]

Today is my last day at WaPo after ~9 years

A very self-indulgent post, I know, but some highlights of my time:

— Meeting & giving voice to those at the bottom: Laid off steelworkers in Kentucky & coal miners in West Virginia; residents in decrepit public housing in NYC; hurricane survivors in Puerto Rico; Maine families crippled by the eldercare crisis; victims of US sanctions in rural Guatemala

— Challenging those at the top: Wall Street and Fortune 500 execs; Congressional leaders, White House officials & U.S. treasury secretaries in both parties

— Getting an appendectomy in eastern Ukraine

— Telling people I had no authority to send stimulus checks, given that I'm a reporter

— Spending my travel budget on Taco Bell dinners

So grateful for all the editors, sources, reporters & above all readers with me all these years

Will be back offline to really finish my book for a little bit — & see you soon @ Washington's most exciting newsroom, new name coming soon

[Jeff Stein @jstein_star]

Some personal news: This is my last week at The Washington Post.

I’ve loved so much of the last 9 years here, but my faith in the paper’s current leadership is broken beyond repair.

Incredibly excited to get to work with the newsroom below (I start in June) & join the extraordinarily talented kickass reporters such as @anna_c_kramer, @OrianaBeLike, @reesejgorman & many more

Please get in touch w/ me anytime on Signal: 9178872891