on controversial topics, with lighter fare. One consequence has been that less time is available, however, to deal with such topics. For example, the time allotted to euthanasia/PAS on the November 22, 1998 broadcast was only 13 minutes, 36 seconds (Vatz and Weinberg 66).
Facts Concerning the November 22, 1998 Broadcast. 60 Minutes was no stranger to the topic of euthanasia/PAS. In May, 1996 Andy Rooney interviewed Dr. Kevorkian on 60 Minutes who used it as a forum to state that "government has no business telling you . . . how much you have to suffer before you die" and said that prosecutions of him may have discouraged many physicians from helping their terminally ill patients to die (Sheed 1). Dr. Kevorkian made an 18 minute videotape of his interviewing Mr. Youk in his home in Waterford Township, Michigan in September, 1997 and his administering a sedative and then a lethal drug (potassium chloride) into the arm of Youk. According to Liberman, CBS was tipped off as to the existence of the videotape by Charles Eisendrath, Director of the University of Michigan's Journalism Fellow program to which Mike Wallace, the narrator of the broadcast, made financial contributions (Arvidson 1). Wallace then called Dr. Kevorkian and asked him to mail CBS the videotape which arrived the next day. During the ten days preceding the broadcast, Wallace and Bob Anderson, the producer of the show, viewed the videotape. Then it was shown to Don Hewitt, the overall executive in charge of 60 Minutes who gave them approval to prepare the broadcast segment.
In introducing the segment, Wallace told the audience that it would see material which was 'disturbing.' The first part of the segment consisted of an interview by Wallace of Kevorkian who described Youk's medical history, the terminal nature of his disease, Youk's fear that he would die by choking and his desire to have Kevorkian help him end his suffering. Kevorkian also acknowledged to Wallac...