Guy Campanile, a former managing editor of CBS’s 60 Minutes, says the programme’s first two episodes of its 59th season have not delivered the significant changes promised after several senior staff and correspondents were dismissed in May. Although he describes the new season’s opening report as compelling, he questions why it did not examine the wider Iran war when it featured interviews with the US defence secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Campanile argues that viewers may have wondered whether the programme avoided tougher questions to secure access to the rescued Air Force officer, though related questions were broadcast on other CBS programmes. His criticisms come amid upheaval at CBS News under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, whose leadership has prompted allegations of political interference; he also raises concerns about the second episode’s interview with Patrick Clancy, the ex-husband of a Massachusetts mother accused of killing their three children.