Anderson Cooper Signs Off ’60 Minutes’ After 20 Years, Hailing the Program’s ‘Independence’ and ‘Trust it Has With Viewers’

Anderson Cooper signed off of “60 Minutes” on Sunday with a salute to the newsmagazine’s editorial independence and longevity. He told viewers “I hope ’60 Minutes’ remains ’60 Minutes’ ” in a segment that wrapped up his 20-year run as a correspondent for the venerable program.

“There’s very few things that have been around for as long as ’60 Minutes’ has and [have been able to] maintain the quality that it has,” Cooper said. “Things can always evolve and change, and I think that’s awesome, and things should evolve and change, but I hope the core of what ’60 Minutes’ is always remains,” he said. “I think the independence of ’60 Minutes’ has been critical.”

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He also cited the show’s standing with viewers as a trusted source of reporting and investigative journalism. Cooper joined the show in the 2006-07 season through an unusual arrangement between CBS News and CNN, where Cooper is a top anchor.

“I think the trust it has with viewers is critical to the success of ’60 Minutes.’ When you see a ’60 Minutes’ story, and you’re like, ‘That was a really good story.’ It was a good story because it requires time, it requires patience, it requires money,” he said. “I hope that’s known and honored and valued and continues.”

Cooper has juggled his “60 Minutes” responsibilities alongside his day job at CNN. Cooper has expressed that he wants to spend more time with his young children, ages 4 and 6. However, there’s been much speculation that the broad changes within CBS News under the new regime of editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and Paramount Skydance’s ownership of CBS played a part in Cooper’s decision.

“The whole time I’ve done pieces on ’60 Minutes,’ my full-time job has been over at CNN, and still is,” Cooper told “60 Minutes Overtime.” “It’s been really challenging to do the kind of work you need to do to have a great ’60 Minutes’ piece on. CNN doesn’t like it if I take a lot of time off to work on a ’60 Minutes’ piece, so I’ve worked mostly for ’60 Minutes’ on weekends. My vacation time at CNN has been working on ’60 Minutes’ pieces. I’ve loved it, but it’s been tough.”

Cooper added that he hoped the franchise still has a long run ahead.

“I hope ’60 Minutes’ is around for when my kids grow up and have kids of their own, and they can watch it with their kids,” he said.