One of the most storied news franchises in history has a fresh leader, as CBS News names journalist Nick Bilton the executive producer of “60 Minutes.” Bilton’s significant experience as a reporter likely made him an appealing choice for CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. But others at the program are questioning how Bilton, who has never worked in television news, will run the institution.

‘Outside traditional broadcast news’
Bilton wants to ensure that “‘holding people to account’ and ‘investigative journalism’ remain core principles” of “60 Minutes” under his watch, he said to The Hollywood Reporter. But there may also be opportunities for “some of that kind of gonzo journalism stuff” that Bilton is personally known for. 

These changes are “built around extending ‘60 Minutes’ to the places where consumers primarily get their news,” said Bilton to the outlet. There will be an “emphasis on experimenting with new voices from outside traditional broadcast news,” said The New York Times. 

This all comes amid a larger shift at CBS News. In addition to hiring Bilton, Weiss “fired Cecilia Vega, the program’s first Latina correspondent, and Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on torture in Salvadoran prisons was pulled off the air abruptly last year,” said the Times.

‘Fear what comes next’
Many are wary of what these changes mean for the program’s longstanding legacy of groundbreaking journalism. Particular criticism was levied at Bilton, a “credulous dope” whose 2015 article for The New York Times was “so factually f--ked it now contains a 203-word editor’s note and a 98-word correction,” said Defector.

Weiss’ changes will “probably generate heat from the staff of ‘60 Minutes,’” who are fiercely loyal to prior Executive Producer Tanya Simon, said The Guardian. Some are cautious of the direction “60 Minutes” could be headed. “I very much fear what comes next,” said Vega in a statement after her ousting.

Others have been even more blunt, including longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley. “‘She’s murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” he said of Weiss in a heated meeting with Bilton, according to numerous sources. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”

The U.K. government last week rejected a call from Scotland’s devolved parliament for a new Scottish independence referendum 12 years after the last one failed, and the U.K. says there’s no nationwide consensus for another vote. Scotland’s parliament has nevertheless voted for the ability to run another ballot on the thorny proposition. Is another clash in the offing, or are Scotland’s dreams of independence dead for now?

‘Important motivator’
Earlier this year, 47% of the 2,136 Scots said they would vote yes to independence, while 44% said they would vote no, with 8% undecided, in a survey by BBC Scotland and Savanta. Although just a “snapshot,” this is “in line with the polling trend,” said the BBC. But there’s “another consideration”: Only 13% of those polled ranked independence as a “top three priority” for Scotland, trailing the cost of living (62%), the NHS (50%) and the economy (31%).

Independence remains an “important motivator for some voters,” but it “does not feel as potent an issue” as it has in the past, said the BBC. That said, independence is “significantly more popular” than the SNP, the main nationalist party.

‘SNP fights for Scotland’
Although last week’s vote was “largely symbolic,” it “highlights how Scotland’s constitutional future has returned to the core of British politics,” said Bloomberg. The SNP may have fallen short of an overall majority in the recent elections to the Scottish Parliament, but with the left-wing Green Party, it has still secured its “largest ever pro-independence majority.” That the SNP secured a fifth consecutive election victory despite its “patchy record on public service delivery” and “bouts of internal warfare,” as well as an embezzlement scandal, reflects the “independence aspirations among half the population and the sense that the SNP fights for Scotland,” said the Financial Times.

The SNP doesn’t “have to be good”; it just has to “be Scottish,” said Andy Maciver, of PR consultancy Message Matters, to the outlet. But to build support for independence above 50%, the party will need to restore faith in its competence. The prospect of  Nigel Farage of the U.K.’s right-wing Reform Party as prime minister could help. “They need people to run away from the rain in Westminster and toward the sun” in Scotland’s parliament.

A rare blue moon rises over the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, Greece. The phenomenon refers to a second full moon in one calendar month. Despite its name, a blue moon usually appears orange when it rises.
Xinhua/Shutterstock

While much has changed about the film industry in recent years, the presence of a sci-fi blockbuster like director Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” early in the summer season feels like a throwback. The buzzy tentpole will be joined by several other intriguing, if less hyped, films this month in theaters, including a talky dinner party drama and a queer horror fable.

‘Disclosure Day’
Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg will turn 80 this December but seems in no hurry to slow down. “Disclosure Day” (pictured above) looks like his most ambitious science-fiction project since 2005’s “War of the Worlds.” It’s a “dense roller coaster ride blending chase film, love story and mystery, all wrapped in sci-fi wonder” that represents Spielberg’s “best film in 20 years,” said Germain Lussier of Gizmodo on X. (in theaters June 12)

‘Leviticus’
Director Adrian Chiarella’s first feature is an unusually poignant horror story set in rural Australia, where teenagers Naim and Ryan begin a halting romance. Then a local preacher curses the boys with a demon that takes the shape of whoever they desire the most. The demon “vividly visualizes” the church’s project of “converting desire into shame,” said Marshall Shaffer at Slant. (in theaters June 19)

‘The Invite’
In director Olivia Wilde’s first feature since the divisive “Don’t Worry Darling,” a pair’s moribund marriage is stress-tested when they invite their glamorous upstairs neighbors over for dinner. The characters’ “interplay yields an entertaining, at times crackling evening that tries for a bittersweet note,” said Nicolas Rapold at Sight and Sound. (in theaters June 26)