Five questions for the duo behind The Pelley Minutes
The Verge talks to the creators of The Pelley Minutes, a site that tallies Scott Pelley’s long CBS career.
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Mary Adam and George Apfelbach built The Pelley Minutes as a tribute to Scott Pelley and the journalists behind 60 Minutes, using a simple website to put his decades of reporting in context.
Two people made a website that counts how much news reporter Scott Pelley has done over his long career. It is like stacking up all the minutes in a giant pile to show how much work one reporter and his team have done.
Analysis
A tribute to reporting
The Verge profiles Mary Adam and George Apfelbach, the duo behind The Pelley Minutes, a web project that counts the many minutes Scott Pelley spent reporting across a 37-year career. The site is meant to show that Pelley’s work, and the work of the teams around him, adds up to far more than the show title suggests.
Why they made it
Adam and Apfelbach say they were reacting to turmoil at CBS News and to Pelley’s stand against the network’s new leadership. They describe him as someone who took a risk to defend what he believed was right, and they wanted to celebrate that choice in a small, creative way. The project also follows their earlier viral piece, “Elmo Open To Work,” which they say taught them that a single idea can travel widely if people find it interesting enough.
What they are defending
The duo frame their work as support for free speech, public media, and institutions that serve a broad public rather than a narrow set of wealthy interests. They argue that journalism should be unbiased, honest, and willing to speak truth to power. Their broader point is that important institutions should not be treated as assets to be sold to the highest bidder.
The article is less a product review than a portrait of two creatives using the web to make a political and cultural point. It treats the site as a love letter to journalism and as a reminder that broadcast news is built by people, not just brands.
Key points
- The Verge spotlights The Pelley Minutes, a website about Scott Pelley’s long reporting career.
- Creators Mary Adam and George Apfelbach say the project is a tribute to journalism and public media.
- They link the work to concern about turmoil at CBS News and what they see as pressure on independent reporting.
- The duo says their earlier Elmo parody showed how a single creative idea can spread widely online.
If The Pelley Minutes keeps getting attention, it could help more people notice the value of long-term reporting and the people behind it. The project also gives a simple, shareable way to support public media and journalism at a time when both feel under pressure.
The site may stay mostly symbolic if the broader problems at CBS News and public media do not change. It could also be easy for viewers to enjoy the tribute without engaging with the structural issues the creators are pointing at.
