Oprah Winfrey to Join ’60 Minutes’

Veteran television host Oprah Winfrey will join CBS’s 60 Minutes the network announced Tuesday. Winfrey will serve as a special contributor on the news program.

“I’ve been a big admirer of 60 Minutes since my days as a young reporter,” said Winfrey in a statement. “I’m so excited and proud to join forces with this historic news program, which for me represents the bastion of journalistic storytelling. At a time when people are so divided, my intention is to bring relevant insight and perspective, to look at what separates us, and help facilitate real conversations between people from different backgrounds.”

“There is only one Oprah Winfrey. She is a remarkable and talented woman with a level of integrity that sets her apart and makes her a perfect fit for 60 Minutes,” executive producer Jeff Fager said in a statement. “I am thrilled that she will be bringing her unique and powerful voice to our broadcast.”

Winfrey will join the Sunday newsmagazine this fall in the program’s 50th season.

Winfrey hosted the award-winning talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for 25 seasons. She began her career as a journalist at Nashville’s WLAC in 1973 and went on to become both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at the station.

Watch the announcement on CBS This Morning: