Editorial: Newsman takes a bow

Thursday, March 16, 2006 | 6:51 a.m.

Veteran television news journalist Mike Wallace's announcement that he will retire from CBS' "60 Minutes" at the end of the spring television season signals the end of an era.

Wallace, who turns 88 on May 9, has symbolized the news magazine show's reputation for asking hard questions since it first aired in 1968. But his rigorous style was his trademark almost from the moment he stepped into the CBS studios in 1951. Wallace is among those early news pioneers who can take credit for creating the television news interview. Many credit Wallace and "60 Minutes" creator Don Hewitt, who retired in 2004, with creating the news magazine genre.

Wallace's list of interview subjects reads like a Who's Who of 20th century newsmakers, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Vladimir Putin, Menachem Begin, Yassar Arafat, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Ayatollah Khomeini. His interviews were methodical, with pointed questions that showed he intended to obtain the whole story and leave nothing to assumption or wonder.

These exchanges weren't about his ego or his image. They were about revealing the issues of the day for his viewers. Wallace asked the questions Americans would have asked these people if given the chance. In this modern age of news in which the line between being a celebrity and being a journalist is often foggy, Wallace was a straight-up newsman.

The show "60 Minutes" will endure without Wallace. But Wallace takes with him the art of creating a civil, public, critical discourse, which is often lacking in today's radio and telelvison news shows. Hardly anyone relished being picked apart on camera by Wallace, but he did it with thoughtful, well-researched questions, not by ranting and disrespect.

In his statement Tuesday, Wallace said, "It has become apparent to me that my eyes and ears, among other appurtenances, aren't quite what they used to be." Humble parting words from a man who has been the eyes and ears for so many, for so long.