RTDNA@NAB 2010: Steve Kroft from “60 Minutes”

“60 Minutes” reporter Steve Kroft is the winner of this year’s Paul White Award which is the RTDNA’s highest honor and “recognizes an individual’s lifetime contributions to electronic journalism.” In a session called “The Craft of Kroft,” he talked about his meticulous approach to journalism. Whether the topics are serious or light, Kroft does his homework. We kicked things off with the showing of a “60 Minutes” piece Kroft did on end-of-life health care. The question: are our hospitals doing too much to keep people alive when their death is inevitable? It was a very good story, filled with provocative and touching examples.

The second example was considerably lighter – a piece on Jerry Seinfeld.

“The secret to doing an interview like that is to have some access,” said Kroft. “We had a couple of drinks the night before. But he came to play, and this is the thing that separates most interviews. You had someone who was very quick and was really into it. I think his mother and father couldn’t believe he was going to be on ’60 Minutes.’”

It was not one of the more controversial sessions, per se, but that wasn’t really the goal. The session was a preamble to tonight’s awards dinner. It was an interesting counterpoint to this morning’s session social media, however. Kroft talked about the lengthy process he undertakes for a piece. He, of course, has a luxury that few other broadcast journalists have.

Kroft also reminisced about “60 Minutes” creator and producer Don Hewitt, who died last August.

“The one thing about Don was his enthusiasm for the job,” Kroft told the audience. “He was like a lightning blot ricocheting around the hallways. He would energize people. When he said ‘Tell me a story,’ sometimes he’d say ‘There’s a great story here, but you missed it,’ and he’d take the elements and make it a great story. That was a special genius Don had.”

Kroft has appeared on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report.” When asked about those appearances, Kroft didn’t seem thrilled about them, but said that he recognized that PR is part of the job, especially when you’re trying to appeal to a younger demographic.

“(‘The Daily Show’ is) a great show and it’s a lot of fun. It is a way to try and attract younger viewers for ’60 Minutes.’ It’s not like I was undergoing torture.”

Steve Kroft was honored with the Paul White Award Monday night. LR Pal Jill Geisler (@jillgeisler) tweeted a couple of quotes from Kroft: “The endangered product today isn’t news, it is original reporting.” and “I am fairly optimistic. I think what we do is so important that someone will figure out the business model.”