Lasting for 30 seasons on the same show is an accomplishment all on its own, but Steve Kroft can honestly lay claim to that as well as the phenomenal feat of having been a reporter for five decades of his life. This is the kind of life you celebrate and appreciate since he’s been on the front lines of reporting for so long that in many ways he’s served as an inspiration and a model for many other reporters to look up to. The chances are good that we’ve all heard his name at least once if not more throughout our lives but unless you happen to have watched 60 Minutes in the past couple of decades or more you might not be all that knowledgeable about him. Thankfully that doesn’t really matter since 60 Minutes has for a long time been one of the most-watched shows on TV and has delved into some of the most controversial and hard-hitting topics that could be found. Kroft covered a great many of those topics and got to ask the hard questions of those that he interviewed in order to get the answers that people were wanting to hear and even the ones that they might not have been interested in hearing.
Back when he was younger, just out of college in fact, he was drafted into the US Army and eventually shipped over to Vietnam. While there he was a reporter for the Armed Forces Network and as such he won an award and a Bronze Star as well. Eventually he was made a part of the military paper the Stars and Stripes. After being honorably discharged from the army his journalism career continued as he made his way to Florida where he worked for a couple of different stations. This work would eventually get him noticed by CBS, who decided to sign him in 1980. At first he worked out of New York, but would eventually move to Dallas and then back to Florida where he would stay for a while. During his tenure with CBS he made several trips to different locations to cover one story or another as per the job, doing his best to make sure he captured the stories they wanted him to and did so in a way that was both professional and gripping enough that it would inform the people it needed to. This kind of work wasn’t always safe by any means depending on where he went and in what situation he was thrust into, but throughout it all Kroft maintained his professionalism and managed to come home safely.
He has been criticized in his career throughout the years, it’s hard to establish yourself as a force in such an industry and not garner criticism now and again after all. Some think that his presidential interviews were lacking in some way, or that he fawned over the subject of his questions and therefore let people down by not being hard-nosed enough to get the answers that people wanted. The hard thing for many people to realize is that while he’s not perfect, as no reporter in their life has ever been, the people that watch are notoriously fickle and will voice opinions that don’t exactly hold a lot of water since they’ll turn on one person or another the moment that any pertinent information is brought to mind, whether it’s real or fabricated. There’s no doubt that he’s erred in his time as a reporter and could have done a few things differently, but then again, he didn’t get to the point he did by being the most soft-spoken individual and he certainly didn’t rise this far by being anything other than one of the best that’s ever done it.
Aurelie Corinthios from People has already written that Kroft admits to not being an easy person to get along with at all times, as he’s been kind of demanding over the years and has wanted things to go his way as much as possible. But others have chimed in and spoken of how his attention to detail, his ability to look at a story and figure out just how to present it, and many other factors have made him one of the best. With the media it’s always hard to know who’s telling the truth and who’s trying to spin a clever lie and make it sound real, but in this case it would seem that Kroft has been a hard man but also someone that’s been doing his best to deliver a quality report that’s honest and forthright enough to convince people of its validity.
So it’s fair to say that Kroft has earned his retirement and hopefully the enjoyment that will go with it. The reporter announced his retirement just a short while back, and is hopefully planning a few things to enjoy when he finally gets to kick back and enjoy what his success brought.
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