Sad news tonight. Longtime CBS 60 minutes correspondent, Bob Simon, died in a car crash Thursday night. He was 73. The journalist covered overseas conflicts and other news stories since the late 60s. From the Associated Press:
Simon was among a handful of elite journalists, a “reporter’s reporter,” according to his executive producer, whose assignments took him from the Vietnam War to the Oscar-nominated movie “Selma.” He spent years doing foreign reporting for CBS News, particularly from the Middle East, where he was held captive for more than a month in Iraq two decades ago.
“Bob Simon was a giant of broadcast journalism, and a dear friend to everyone in the CBS News family,” CBS News President David Rhodes said in a statement. “We are all shocked by this tragic, sudden loss.”
A town car in which Simon was a passenger Wednesday night hit another car stopped at a Manhattan traffic light and then slammed into metal barriers separating traffic lanes, police said. Simon and the town car’s driver were taken to a hospital, where Simon was pronounced dead.
The town car driver suffered injuries to his legs and arms. The driver of the other car was uninjured. No arrests were made, said police, who continued to investigate the deadly accident.
Highlights of Bob Simon’s career at CBS News spanning nearly 50 years
