Beginning this Sunday (Sept. 25), Oprah Winfrey will add another title to her already long list of accomplishments – TV show host, actress, author, businesswoman, journalist – as she makes her debut as a correspondent for CBS’ 60 minutes.
Winfrey’s debut aligns with the show’s 50th season premiere. And at the height of America’s political tension, her first story is said to tackle the political divisions in America.
The Mississippi native sat down with 60 Minutes Overtime Senior Producer Ann Silvio yesterday to discuss her new role and the impact that 60 Minutes has on her life.
“As someone whose grown up watching 60 Minutes; since I was a young girl,” Winfrey said. “Not even knowing the power, the impact, the value of the reporting, and then becoming a young reporter myself in my 20s, in Baltimore, 60 Minutes was I would say for the first 20 years of my career like a religion. Your Sunday was complete after Andy Rooney had finished his piece and you heard that clock. So to be a part of this esteemed group of story tellers is one of the great honors of my career, I would have to say.”
While Sunday marks Winfrey 60 Minutes debut as a correspondent, she was first featured on the show in 1986, when her talk show premiered.
But Oprah’s role on 60 Minutes is just one of the latest ventures keeping the media mogul (and her fans) on their toes. A few months ago Winfrey announced the release of O, That’s Good!, her line of frozen comfort foods, which is said to soon be available in a store near you.
