60 Minutes

==Controversies==
The show has been praised for landmark journalism and received many awards. However, it has also become embroiled in some controversy, including (in order of appearance):

===Audi unintended acceleration===
On November 23, 1986, ''60 Minutes'' aired a segment [[greenlight|greenlit]] by Hewitt, concerning the [[Audi 5000]] automobile, a popular [[Germany|German]] luxury car. The story covered a supposed problem of "unintended acceleration" when the brake pedal was pushed, with emotional interviews with six people who sued [[Audi]] (unsuccessfully) after they crashed their cars, including one woman whose six-year-old son had been killed. In the ''60 Minutes'' segment footage was shown of an [[Audi 5000]] with the accelerator "moving down on its own", accelerating the car. It later emerged that an expert witness employed by one of the plaintiffs modified the accelerator with a concealed device, causing the "unintended acceleration".<ref>{{cite news|title=Audi Investigated for Unintended Acceleration|url=http://www.automobile.com/audi-investigated-for-unintended-acceleration.html|work=Automobile.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20121217135715/http://www.automobile.com/audi-investigated-for-unintended-acceleration.html|archive-date=December 17, 2012}}</ref> Independent investigators concluded that this "unintended acceleration" was most likely due to driver error, where the driver let their foot slip off the brake and onto the accelerator. Tests by [[Audi]] and independent journalists showed that even with the [[Wide open throttle|throttle wide open]], the car would simply stall if the brakes were actually being used.<ref>{{cite news|title=Audi's Runaway Trouble With the 5000|last=Yates|first=Brock|work=[[Washington Post Magazine]]|date=December 21, 1986}}</ref>

The incident devastated Audi sales in the United States, which did not rebound for 15 years. The initial incidents which prompted the report were found by the [[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]] and [[Transport Canada]] to have been attributable to operator error, where car owners had depressed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal. CBS issued a partial retraction, without acknowledging the test results of involved government agencies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Manufacturing the Audi Scare|url=http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cjm_18.htm|last=Huber|first=Peter|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|publisher=[[Manhattan Institute for Policy Research]]|date=December 18, 1989}}</ref> Years later, ''[[Dateline NBC]]'', a rival to ''60 Minutes'', was found guilty of similar tactics regarding the fuel tank integrity of [[Dateline NBC#General Motors vs. NBC|General Motors pickup trucks]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title='Dateline' Disaster: NBC and General Motors feud over a staged car accident|url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305709,00.html|last=Fretts|first=Bruce|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=July 29, 2013|archive-date=June 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604205808/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305709,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Jeep rollovers===
A segment aired in December, 1980, concerning the alleged [[Jeep CJ|Jeep CJ-5]] ''high rollover risk'' as demonstrated in [[Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]] testing. The demonstration was a [[Jeep]] rolling over during an extreme turn at 20&nbsp;mph, something that would not cause other cars to roll over. It was deemed by ''60 Minutes'' reporters as the "most dangerous thing on four wheels". After the show aired, many people were concerned about the safety of the vehicle, and following sales plummeted. This tarnished the reputation of the [[Jeep CJ]]; the model was discontinued in 1986. Years after the incident occurred, it was found that the [[Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]] had attempted to roll the car 435 times, only having 8 rollovers. The show had also failed to mention/show that there were weights hanging on spots of the vehicle that had caused the vehicle to have a higher rollover risk.<ref>{{cite web|title=It Didn't Start With Dateline NBC|url=http://walterolson.com/articles/crashtests.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225014108/http://walterolson.com/articles/crashtests.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-02-25|last=Walter|first=Olson|work=[[Walterson]]|publisher=[[National Review]]|date=June 21, 1993}}</ref>

===Alar===
In February 1989, ''60 Minutes'' aired a report by the [[Natural Resources Defense Council]] claiming that the use of [[daminozide]] (Alar) on [[apple]]s presented an unacceptably high health risk to consumers. Apple sales dropped and CBS was sued unsuccessfully by apple growers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Judge Dismisses Apple Growers' Suit Against CBS|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE4D61F31F937A2575AC0A965958260|work=The New York Times|date=September 14, 1993|access-date=July 21, 2007|quote=A Federal judge today dismissed a lawsuit that apple growers in Washington State filed against CBS after "60 Minutes" broadcast a report linking the chemical Alar to cancer. The report, broadcast Feb. 26, 1989, said the use of Alar increased the risk of cancer in humans, particularly children, and cited a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council.}}</ref> Alar was subsequently banned for use on food crops in the U.S. by the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA).

===Werner Erhard===
On March 3, 1991, ''60 Minutes'' broadcast "[[Werner Erhard]]," which dealt with controversies involving Erhard's personal and business life. A year after the ''60 Minutes'' piece aired, Erhard filed a lawsuit against CBS, claiming that the broadcast contained several "false, misleading and defamatory" statements about him. One month after filing the lawsuit, Erhard filed for dismissal.<ref name="docket">''Werner Erhard vs. Columbia Broadcasting System'', (Filed: March 3, 1992) Case Number: 1992-L-002687. Division: Law Division. District: First Municipal. [[Illinois Circuit Court of Cook County|Cook County Circuit Court]], Chicago, Illinois.</ref> Erhard later told [[Larry King]] in an interview that he dropped the suit after receiving legal advice telling him that in order to win it, he had to prove not only that CBS knew the allegations were false but also that CBS acted with [[Malice (law)|malice]].<ref name=Westword>{{cite magazine|title=It Happens|url=http://www.westword.com/1996-04-18/news/it-happens/8|last=Jackson|first=Steve|magazine=[[Westword]]|date=April 18, 1996|access-date=March 29, 2012|archive-date=June 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629105950/http://www.westword.com/1996-04-18/news/it-happens/8/|url-status=dead}}</ref> After numerous independent journalists exposed untruths and factual inaccuracies in the story<ref>The Story of Our Lives, Vanora Bennett, The London Times, Saturday, July 15, 2000</ref><ref>Est Is Back, More Popular Than Ever, Oliver Libaw, ABC News, August 13, 2002</ref> the segment was removed by CBS from its archives, with a disclaimer: "This segment has been deleted at the request of CBS News for legal or [[copyright]] reasons."<ref>{{cite web|title=est, WERNER ERHARD, AND THE CORPORATIZATION OF SELF-HELP|url=http://www.believermag.com/issues/200305/?read=article_snider|last=Snider|first=Suzanne|work=[[Believer Magazine]]|date=May 2003}}</ref>

===Brown & Williamson===
In 1995, former [[Brown & Williamson]] Vice President for Research and Development [[Jeffrey Wigand]] provided information to ''60 Minutes'' producer [[Lowell Bergman]] that B&W had systematically hidden the health risks of their cigarettes (see [http://jeffreywigand.com/pascagoula.php transcription]). Furthermore, it was alleged that B&W had introduced foreign agents (such as [[Fiberglass#Health hazards|fiberglass]] and [[Ammonia#Stimulant|ammonia]]) with the intent of enhancing the effect of [[nicotine]]. Bergman began to produce a piece based upon the information, but ran into opposition from Don Hewitt who, along with CBS lawyers, feared a billion dollar lawsuit from Brown and Williamson for [[tortious interference]] for encouraging Wigand to violate his [[non-disclosure agreement]]. A number of people at CBS would benefit from a sale of CBS to [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse Electric Corporation]], including the head of CBS lawyers and CBS News. Also, because of the interview, the son of CBS President [[Laurence Tisch]] (who also controlled [[Lorillard Tobacco Company|Lorillard Tobacco]]) was among the people from the [[Big Tobacco|big tobacco companies]] at risk of being caught having committed perjury. Due to Hewitt's hesitation, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' instead broke Wigand's story. The ''60 Minutes'' piece was eventually aired with substantially altered content and minus some of the most damning evidence against B&W. The [[Investigative journalism|exposé]] of the incident was published in an article in ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' by [[Marie Brenner]], entitled "The Man Who Knew Too Much".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Man Who Knew Too Much|url=http://www.mariebrenner.com/articles/insider/man1.html|last=Brenner|first=Marie|author-link=Marie Brenner|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|publisher=MarieBrenner.com|date=May 1996|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040805231342/http://www.mariebrenner.com/articles/insider/man1.html|archive-date=August 5, 2004}}</ref>

''The New York Times'' wrote that "the traditions of Edward R. Murrow and "60 Minutes" itself were diluted in the process,"<ref>{{cite news|title=Self-Censorship at CBS|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/12/opinion/self-censorship-at-cbs.html|work=The New York Times|date=November 12, 1995}}</ref> though the newspaper revised the quote slightly, suggesting that ''60 Minutes'' and CBS had "betrayed the legacy of Edward R. Murrow". The incident was turned into a seven-times [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-nominated feature film entitled ''[[The Insider (film)|The Insider]]'', directed by [[Michael Mann (director)|Michael Mann]] and starring [[Russell Crowe]] as Wigand, [[Al Pacino]] as Bergman, and [[Christopher Plummer]] as Mike Wallace. Wallace denounced the portrayal of him as inaccurate to his stance on the issue.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1999-10/15/046r-101599-idx.html | title=The Explosive Film That Ticked Off '60 Minutes' | last=Shales | first=Tom | date=October 15, 1999 | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | access-date=June 20, 2016}}</ref>

===U.S. Customs Service===
In 1997, ''60 Minutes'' alleged that agents of the [[U.S. Customs Service]] ignored drug trafficking across the [[Mexico–United States border]] at [[San Diego]].<ref>{{cite news|title=I'd Rather Be Blogging: CBS stonewalls as 'guys in pajamas' uncover a fraud.|url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005611|last=Fund|first=John|author-link=John Fund|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=September 13, 2004}}</ref> The only evidence was a memorandum apparently written by Rudy Camacho, who was the head of the San Diego branch office. Based on this memo, CBS alleged that Camacho had allowed trucks belonging to a particular firm to cross the border unimpeded. Mike Horner, a former Customs Service employee, had passed the memos on to ''60 Minutes'', and even provided a copy with an official stamp. Camacho was not consulted about the piece, and his career was devastated in the immediate term as his own department placed suspicion on him. In the end, it turned out that Horner had forged the documents as an act of revenge for his treatment within the Customs Service. Camacho sued CBS and settled for an undisclosed amount of money in damages. Hewitt was forced to issue an on-air retraction.<ref>{{cite news|title=Another 60 Minutes' Apology on a Drug Smuggling Story|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/04/13/another-60-minutes-apology-on-a-drug-smuggling-story/b7ac7cd2-42d5-4161-80f8-3b7d5dc5ed48/|last=de Moraes|first=Lisa|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 13, 1999|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref>

===Kennewick Man===
A legal battle between archaeologists and the [[Umatilla people|Umatilla]] tribe over the remains of a skeleton, nicknamed [[Kennewick Man]], was reported by ''60 Minutes'' on October 25, 1998, to which the Umatilla tribe reacted negatively. The tribe considered the segment heavily biased in favor of the scientists, cutting out important arguments, such as explanations of the [[Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Kennewick Man issue damages relationships|url=http://www.umatilla.nsn.us/kman3.html|last=Minthorn|first=Antone|work=Board of Trustees Chairman [[Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation]]|date=November 5, 1998|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616122302/http://www.umatilla.nsn.us/kman3.html|archive-date=June 16, 2006}}</ref> The report focused heavily on the racial politics of the controversy and also added inflammatory arguments, such as questioning the legitimacy of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] sovereignty<ref>{{cite web|title=Bones of Contention|url=http://www.common-place.org/vol-01/no-02/kennewick/kennewick-2.shtml|last=Fabien|first=Ann|work=Common-Place.org|access-date=May 22, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031812/http://www.common-place.org/vol-01/no-02/kennewick/kennewick-2.shtml|archive-date=September 28, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> – much of the racial focus of the segment was later reported to have been either unfounded and/or misinterpreted.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Who Were The First Americans?|url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1169905,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060512072626/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1169905,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 12, 2006|last1=Lemonick|first1=Michael D.|last2=Dorfman|first2=Andrea|author-link=Michael D. Lemonick|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=March 13, 2006}}</ref>

===Timothy McVeigh===
On March 12, 2000, ''60 Minutes'' aired an interview with [[Oklahoma City bombing|Oklahoma City bomber]] [[Timothy McVeigh]]. At the time, McVeigh had already been convicted and sentenced to death for the bombing of the [[Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building]] in April 1995, and the subsequent deaths of 168 people. On the program, McVeigh was given the opportunity to vent against the government.<ref>{{cite news|title=McVeigh Vents On '60 Minutes'|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/03/13/national/main171231.shtml|work=CBS News|date=March 13, 2000|access-date=April 20, 2020|archive-date=May 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513084808/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/03/13/national/main171231.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> Following the program, a federal policy called the Special Confinement Unit Media Policy was enacted prohibiting face-to-face interviews with [[death row]] inmates.<ref>{{cite web|title=Journalism, Edward R. Murrow, First Amendment &#124; Communicator &#124; Ban on Face-To-Face Interviews with Federal Death Row Inmates Stands |url=http://www.rtdna.org/pages/posts/ban-on-face-to-face-interviews-with-federal-death-row-inmates-stands876.php |publisher=[[Radio Television Digital News Association]] |date=March 12, 2010 |access-date=March 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318180807/http://www.rtdna.org/pages/posts/ban-on-face-to-face-interviews-with-federal-death-row-inmates-stands876.php |archive-date=March 18, 2012 }}</ref> A federal inmate challenged the policy in ''Hammer v. [[John Ashcroft|Ashcroft]]'', under which the [[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit]] upheld the prison policy. In March 2010, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] declined to hear an appeal in the case, and the policy limiting media access to death row inmates remains in place. CBS refuses to show the entire interview, and has stated no reasons.<ref>{{cite news|title=High court won't hear appeal, ban on death row interviews stands|url=http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/high-court-wont-hear-appeal-ban-death-row-interviews-stands|last=Andrews|first=Curry|publisher=[[Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press]]|date=March 8, 2010}}</ref>

===Viacom/CBS cross-promotion===
In recent years, the program has been accused of promoting books, films, and interviews with celebrities who are published or promoted by sister businesses of media conglomerate Viacom (which owned CBS from 2000 to 2005 and since 2019; both companies' shares since 2000 were majority-owned by [[National Amusements]] even during their fourteen-year separation) and publisher [[Simon & Schuster]] (which remained a part of CBS Corporation after the 2005 CBS/Viacom split and continued on after its re-merger with Viacom), without disclosing the journalistic conflict-of-interest to viewers.<ref>{{cite news|title=All in the Family: Who says 60 Minutes doesn't pay for interviews?|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/preston_regan200404020931.asp|last1=Preston|first1=Bryan|last2=Regan|first2=Chris|work=[[National Review]]|date=April 2, 2004|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040604144909/http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/preston_regan200404020931.asp|archivedate=June 4, 2004|accessdate=July 10, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Killian documents controversy===
{{main|Killian documents controversy}}

The Killian documents controversy involved six documents critical of President [[George W. Bush]]'s service in the [[Texas Air National Guard]] from 1972 to 1973. Four of these documents were presented as authentic in a ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' broadcast aired on September 8, 2004, less than two months before the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential election]], but it was later found that CBS had failed to authenticate the documents. Subsequently, several typewriter and typography experts concluded the documents are forgeries, as have some media sources. No forensic document examiners or typography experts authenticated the documents, which may not be possible without original documents. The provider of the documents, Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, claimed to have burned the originals after faxing copies to CBS.{{Citation needed|date=June 2012}} The whole incident was turned into a feature-length film entitled ''[[Truth (2015 film)|Truth]]''.

==="The Internet Is Infected" episode and the false hacker photo===
On March 29, 2009, a segment titled "The Internet Is Infected" aired on ''60 Minutes'', which featured an interview with Don Jackson, a data protection professional for [[Dell SecureWorks|SecureWorks]]. Jackson himself declared in the program that "a part of [his] job is to know the enemy". However, during the interview, Jackson showed a photo of Finnish upper-level comprehensive school pupils and misidentified them as Russian hackers.<ref>{{cite news|title=CBS's 60 Minutes airs photo of Finnish children as "Russian hackers" |url=http://finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=21336&group=General |work=NewsRoom Finland |publisher=Virtual Finland, [[Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Finland)|Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland]] |date=April 1, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214223232/http://finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=21336&group=General |archive-date=February 14, 2015 }}</ref> In the photo, one of the children wears a jacket with the coat of arms of Finland on it. Another one wears a cap which clearly has the logo of [[Karjala]], a Finnish brand of beer, on it. The principal of the school in [[Taivalkoski]] confirmed that the photo was taken at the school about five years before the program was broadcast.<ref name=kaleva>{{cite news|title=Amerikkalaisohjelma leimasi taivalkoskelaisnuoret venäläisiksi nettirikollisiksi|url=http://www.kaleva.fi/plus/index.cfm?j=789464|work=[[Kaleva (newspaper)|Kaleva]]|date=March 31, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403070919/http://www.kaleva.fi/plus/index.cfm?j=789464|archive-date=April 3, 2009}}. {{in lang|fi}}</ref>

The photo's exact origins are unknown, but it is widely known in Finland, having been originally posted to the Finnish social networking site IRC-Galleria in the early 2000s. It spread all over Finnish internet communities, and even originated a couple of patriotically titled (but intentionally misspelled) mock sites.<ref name=kaleva/><ref>{{cite news|title=Amerikkalaisohjelma leimasi suomalaisnuoret nettirikollisiksi|url=http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/artikkeli/Amerikkalaisohjelma+leimasi+suomalaisnuoret+nettirikollisiksi/1135244835194|work=[[Helsingin Sanomat]]|date=March 31, 2009|language=fi|access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-date=April 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403074544/http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/artikkeli/Amerikkalaisohjelma+leimasi+suomalaisnuoret+nettirikollisiksi/1135244835194|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''60 Minutes'' later issued a correction and on-air apology.{{When|date=April 2009}}

===Benghazi report===
After the [[2012 Benghazi attack]], ''60 Minutes'' aired a report by correspondent [[Lara Logan]] on October 27, 2013, in which British military contractor Dylan Davies, identified by CBS under the pseudonym "Morgan Jones", described racing to the Benghazi compound several hours after the main assault was over, scaling a 12-foot wall and knocking out a lone fighter with the butt of a rifle. He also claimed to have visited a Benghazi hospital earlier that night where he saw Ambassador [[J. Christopher Stevens|Christopher Stevens]]' body.

In the days following the report, Davies' personal actions were challenged.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/60-minutes-broadcast-helps-propel-new-round-of-back-and-forth-on-benghazi/2013/10/31/fbfcad66-4258-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html|title='60 Minutes' broadcast helps propel new round of back-and-forth on Benghazi|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=October 31, 2013|first=Karen|last=DeYoung}}</ref> The FBI, which had interviewed Davies several times and considered him a credible source,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/14/why-dylan-davies-disappeared.html|title=Why Dylan Davies Disappeared|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=November 14, 2013|first=Eli|last=Lake}}</ref> said the account Davies had given them was different from what he told ''60 Minutes''. Davies stood by his story,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/business/media/cbs-news-defends-its-60-minutes-benghazi-report.html|title=CBS News Defends Its '60 Minutes' Benghazi Report|first=Bill|last=Carter|date=November 5, 2013|work=The New York Times}}</ref> but the inconsistency ultimately prompted ''60 Minutes'' to conclude it was a mistake to include Davies in their report. The show issued a correction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/business/media/60-minutes-airs-apology-on-benghazi.html|title='60 Minutes' Airs Apology on Benghazi|first1=Brian|last1=Stelter|first2=Bill|last2=Carter|date=November 10, 2013|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

After the correction, a journalistic review was conducted by Al Ortiz, CBS News' executive director of standards and practices. Ortiz determined that red flags about Davies' account were missed.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/lara-logan-60-minutes-leave_n_4344883.html|title=CBS News' Lara Logan Taking Leave Of Absence Over Discredited '60 Minutes' Benghazi Report|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|date=November 26, 2013|first=Michael|last=Calderone}}</ref> Davies had told the program and written in his book that he told an alternative version of his actions to his employer, who he said had demanded that he stay inside his Benghazi villa as the attack unfolded. That alternative version was shared with U.S. authorities; 60 Minutes was unable to prove the story Davies had told them was true.<ref name=CBSNews>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-asks-lara-logan-to-take-leave-after-flawed-benghazi-report/|title=CBS asks Lara Logan to take Leave after Flawed Benghazi Report|work=[[CBS News]]|date=November 26, 2013}}</ref>

Davies' book, ''The Embassy House'', was published two days after the ''60 Minutes'' report, by Threshold Editions, part of the Simon and Schuster unit of CBS. It was pulled from shelves once ''60 Minutes'' issued its correction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/11/08/simon-amp-schuster-pulls-discredited-benghazi-b/196812|title=Simon & Schuster Pulls Discredited Benghazi Book|publisher=[[Media Matters for America]]|date=November 8, 2013|first=Eric|last=Hananoki}}</ref>

On November 26, 2013, Logan was forced to take a leave of absence due to the errors in the Benghazi report.<ref name="CBSNews"/> Logan returned to work months later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/b2f1f89aaa9d4569b744f1ec7d571e67|title = CBS News' Lara Logan back at work|website = [[Associated Press]]| date=June 4, 2014 }}</ref>

===NSA report===
On December 15, 2013, ''60 Minutes'' aired a report on the workings of [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) that was widely criticized<ref name=":0">{{cite news|title='60 Minutes' Trashed For NSA Piece|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/60-minutes-nsa_n_4452568.html|last=Mirkinson|first=Jack|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|publisher=[[AOL]]|date=December 16, 2013}}</ref> as misleading<ref>{{cite news|title=NSA goes on 60 Minutes: the definitive facts behind CBS's flawed report|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/16/nsa-surveillance-60-minutes-cbs-facts|last=Ackerman|first=Spencer|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=December 16, 2013}}</ref> and a biased "puff piece".<ref>{{cite news|title=60 Minutes Gift Wrapped a Puff Piece for the NSA|url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/60-minutes-hearts-the-nsa.html|last=Coscarelli|first=Joe|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|date=December 16, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=When '60 Minutes' Checks Its Journalistic Skepticism at the Door|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/business/media/when-60-minutes-checks-its-journalistic-skepticism-at-the-door.html|last=Carr|first=David|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 23, 2013}}</ref> Complaints included that the Agency's perspective was presented unchallenged and that privacy campaigners were not invited to present the counter-arguments to the Agency's claims.<ref name=":0" /> The story was reported by [[John Miller (journalist)|John Miller]], who once worked in the office of the [[Director of National Intelligence]].

===Tesla automaker report===
On March 30, 2014, ''60 Minutes'' presented a story on the [[Tesla Model S]] luxury electric [[automobile]], with Scott Pelley conducting an interview with CEO [[Elon Musk]] concerning the car brand as well as his company [[SpaceX]]. Within a day, the automotive [[weblog|blog]] site [[Jalopnik]] reported that the sounds accompanying footage of the car shown during the story were actually sounds from a traditional gasoline engine dubbed over the footage, when in reality the electric car makes no such sounds.<ref>{{cite news|title=CBS Says It Made 'Audio Editing Error' With Tesla On 60 Minutes|url=http://jalopnik.com/cbs-says-it-made-audio-editing-error-with-tesla-on-60-1555657624|last=Estrada|first=Zac|work=Jalopnik.com|date=March 31, 2014}}</ref> CBS released a statement explaining that the sound was the result of an audio editing error, and subsequently removed the sound from the online version of the piece. However, several news outlets, as well as Jalopnik itself, expressed doubt over the authenticity of this explanation, noting the similar scandal involving [[Tesla, Inc.|Tesla Motors]] and the ''New York Times'' in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=CBS' '60 Minutes' admits to faking Tesla car noise|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/04/06/tesla-motor-sound-cbs-apology/7320361/|surname=Woodyard|given=Chris|work=[[USA Today]]|department=Money|date=April 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407071859/http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/04/06/tesla-motor-sound-cbs-apology/7320361/|archive-date=2014-04-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='60 Minutes' Admits 'Audio Error' In Tesla Story|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/01/60-minutes-error-sound-car-cbs-engine-audio_n_5070297.html|agency=Associated Press|publisher=The Huffington Post (AOL)|date=April 1, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407104851/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/01/60-minutes-error-sound-car-cbs-engine-audio_n_5070297.html|archive-date=April 7, 2014}}</ref>

===Sexual harassment===
After the resignation of CBS news head [[Les Moonves]], an investigation into sexual harassment at CBS, including ''60 Minutes'', uncovered evidence of long-running sexual harassment issues stemming from behavior of producers [[Jeff Fager]] and [[Don Hewitt]].<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Abrams|first1=Rachel|last2=Koblin|first2=John|date=December 6, 2018|title=At '60 Minutes,' Independence Led to Trouble, Investigators Say (Published 2018)|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/06/business/media/60-minutes-jeff-fager-don-hewitt.html|access-date=October 22, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Feldman|first=Kate|title=Longtime '60 Minutes' producer Don Hewitt reportedly sexually assaulted employee repeatedly, reached settlement for more than $5M|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ny-ent-60-minutes-don-hewitt-sexual-assault-20181206-story.html|access-date=October 22, 2020|work=[[New York Daily News|Daily News]]}}</ref>

===Florida COVID-19 vaccine rollout===
In April 2021, Sharyn Alfonsi's story in ''60 Minutes'' on [[Florida Governor]] [[Ron DeSantis]] and the state's [[COVID-19]] vaccine rollout faced criticism for suggesting that a donation by the supermarket chain [[Publix]] to DeSantis' re-election campaign influenced Florida's partnership with Publix stores for [[vaccine]] distribution.<ref name="CNN backlash">{{Cite web|last=Darcy|first=Oliver|title='60 Minutes' faces backlash from Democrats and Publix for critical story on Florida's vaccine rollout|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/05/media/60-minutes-gov-ron-desantis-publix/index.html|access-date=2021-04-06|website=CNN|date=April 5, 2021 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Morrow|first=Brendan|date=2021-04-05|title=Democratic mayor accuses 60 Minutes of airing 'intentionally false' story on Florida's vaccine rollout|url=https://news.yahoo.com/democratic-mayor-accuses-60-minutes-205225085.html|access-date=2021-04-06|website=Yahoo! News|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-05|title=Publix refutes '60 Minutes' story that questions Florida's COVID-19 vaccine distribution|url=https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/publix-refutes-60-minutes-story-that-questions-floridas-covid-19-vaccine-distribution|access-date=2021-04-06|website=WTXL|language=en}}</ref> Subsequently, [[Palm Beach County, Florida|Palm Beach County]] Mayor [[Dave Kerner]] accused ''60 Minutes'' of reporting "intentionally false" information,<ref name=":2" /> while Karol Markowicz of the New York Post characterized Alfonsi as coming off as a "political activist" in the segment.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-06|title=The media tried to smear Ron DeSantis. It backfired {{!}} Opinion|url=https://www.newsweek.com/media-tried-smear-ron-desantis-it-backfired-opinion-1581410|access-date=2021-04-07|website=Newsweek|language=en}}</ref> A spokesperson for ''60 Minutes'' defended the story for having included DeSantis' response to the accusation.<ref name="CNN backlash"/> [[PolitiFact]] stated that by omitting DeSantis' remarks on why the state partnered with Publix to distribute vaccines, the clip could be considered to be "deceptive editing".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/apr/07/unpacking-edits-60-minutes-report-ron-desantis-flo/|title = PolitiFact - Unpacking the edits in '60 Minutes' report on Ron DeSantis, Florida vaccines}}</ref>

=== Facial recognition report ===
On May 16, 2021, [[Anderson Cooper]]'s story in ''60 Minutes'' on the flaws in facial recognition technology used by the police resulting in incorrect identification of people of color received backlash for denying credit to the black female researchers who pioneered the field. The segment was criticized by the [[Algorithmic Justice League]] for "deliberately excluding the groundbreaking and award-winning work of prominent black women AI researchers [[Joy Buolamwini]], [[Timnit Gebru|Dr. Timnit Gebru]], and [[Deborah Raji|Inioluwa Deborah Raji]]".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Black Women Did The Work. Then They Were Denied The Credit.|url=https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/black-women-did-the-work-then-they-were-denied-the-credit|access-date=2021-05-22|website=OrganizeFor|language=en-US}}</ref> The segment was called out for its hypocrisy for failing to credit black women for their pioneering work in a segment highlighting how facial recognition software often leaves out black, Asian, and female faces. CBS later issued a statement explaining that these researchers were not included due to time restrictions of the segment.<ref>{{Cite web|title=An editor's note on our report, "Facial Recognition"|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facial-recognition-editor-note/|access-date=2021-05-22|website=CBS News|date=May 18, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>