Deep in the heart of Texas, a remarkable journalistic tradition has flourished. From Walter Cronkite to Dan Rather to Bob Schieffer, the Lone Star State has produced iconic newspeople for CBS, including current CBS Evening News anchor Pelley. “People have asked me to explain it, and I tell them Americans love Texas,” quips Pelley, whose newscast has brought 1.4 million new viewers to the network in the past five years. The 58-year-old former chief White House correspondent anticipates a newsworthy RNC in Cleveland. “I haven’t seen anything predicted about Donald Trump, including by myself, that has not been overturned,” he says.
On his start at CBS: There were only three networks, as God intended.
On the primaries: It’s been a primary season of unexpected twists and turns. Going back to January, we talked all this time about a contested convention in Cleveland. It’s turned out exactly the opposite. There’s going to be a lot of intrigue in Philadelphia with the two wings of the Democratic Party.
On the importance of this convention: Cleveland is in the wonderful position of being the first convention in living memory that will be unpredictable. For the first time in my career, there will be news made. People are going to be talking about and writing about this convention 100 years from now.
On covering presidential campaigns: In 1992, I finally got a [presidential] race to cover with the governor of Arkansas. I was rushed to Little Rock for a news conference after I was told Bill Clinton was dropping out of the race. That was an intriguing race because nobody thought he had a chance after he lost New Hampshire, and we had a third-party candidate in Ross Perot. It was somewhat like the Trump candidacy today — all the norms we were used to were thrown out the window.
On a journalist’s responsibility: It is not the job of journalism to close minds — it’s the job of journalism to open them. When I was a 15-year-old copyboy at the newspaper in Lubbock, Texas, it was drilled into us that we would report on the news without favoring either side. I still have that strict, independent view.