Andy Rooney 60 Minutes

Q&A: Andy Rooney has no plans to leave '60 Minutes'

Andy Rooney still taping shows

Where is 60 Minutes' Andy Rooney ? Haven't seen him for a while. Is he sick, retired or other? Have not heard any mention of him on the show.

Andy Rooney has been delivering "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" on 60 Minutes since 1978. The network attributes his erratic appearance schedule to his illnesses and major news stories or segments that run longer than expected.

Still, at 92, Rooney is loath to acknowledge that he might be slowing down. When asked by the Rochester (N.Y.) Times Union if he was retiring, he said: "No, I'm not. Why would I do that? This is what I do. I don't need the money, but I love the work."

His producer, Susie Bieber, told the Times Union that they continue to tape a Rooney commentary each week, even though they don't know if it will air. She also said she doesn't sense any pressure from CBS to ease Rooney to the sidelines. "I believe he should be allowed to do what he wants to do until he can't do it anymore," she said. "But eventually, it might be out of his hands.

"People call and ask why he's not on every week and I say, 'He's 92.' I don't know of anyone else who's doing what he's doing at 92," Bieber told the Times Union .

You can see some of Rooney's recent TV work, including his commentary on the death of Osama bin Laden, at www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/rooney/main3419.shtml.

Big names, short stature

I was surprised to hear that Paul Newman was sensitive about his short stature. Just how tall was he? What about these: Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II, Judy Dench, Alan Ladd, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, George Stephanopolous, Dustin Hoffman, Napoleon, Tom Cruise, Claude Rains? Any others?

Though he was a giant of the big screen, Paul Newman always wished he had been taller. Officially he was 5 feet 9 1/2 inches tall.

Actor's listed heights have been known to be exaggerated, usually for men. Robert Redford is a reported 5-10 1/2, Tom Cruise is 5-7 3/4, Dustin Hoffman is 5-5 1/2. Sylvester Stallone is 5-9. Edward G. Robinson was reportedly 5-5, Jimmy Cagney 5-5. Claude Rains was 5-6. Alan Ladd was listed as just a hair over 5-6. Danny Devito is reportedly 4-10. Mickey Rooney? 5-1. There's even a website devoted to this topic: www.celebheights.com.

In the political arena, ABC's George Stephanopoulos is reportedly 5-6 1/2. Napoleon was thought to be about 5-6 or 5-7.

60 Minutes provides 90 seconds of Andy Rooney on confusing studies ...

It's got so you don't dare drink diet soda because researchers say that can be damaging to your health. I don't pay much attention to any of these alarms because, for that matter, life can be damaging to your health. Particularly in large amounts.

Another study I saw says that sweet drinks increase your blood pressure and your chances of getting fat. Well, I'm already overweight, so is it okay if I have a Coke once in a while?

Thirty years ago they were saying that people who drank a lot of coffee were more apt to increase their chances of getting cancer. Now, a study from Israel says that drinking three cups of coffee a day is good for you and good for your circulation and may even protect you against heart attacks.

I've never paid attention to any of the research and I'm still alive and drinking a lot of coffee. I was in Israel once and that didn't kill me either.

Experts have determined that an occasional glass of red wine may be good for us so you may catch me with a glass at dinner. My attitude is "drink up" because tomorrow they might say it's bad.

What I'm really waiting for is a study that says a lot of ice cream lowers your cholesterol. I mean, I'll eat to that."

What he didn't say was that most of these studies are observational studies that can't prove cause and effect. Sometimes it's the researchers who miscommunicate the limitations of such studies. Many times it's journalists who screw it up.

A reminder: we offer a primer for journalists - or for anyone - to understand the proper language that should be used to explain observational studies.

This does indeed seem to be an example of being too close to a problem to see it.

I'd be surprised if Rooney read the original journal articles he's talking about. He's likely talking about the impressions he got from news reports about the articles. When he says that "Experts have determined..." what he probably really means is, "The media reports I've seen say that experts have determined..."

As you point out, researchers (and industry, university, conference media staffers) too often originate the miscommunication. Still, the lesson that journalists and news execs should take from this expression of (the widespread) exasperation with apparently conflicting reports about research results is that sloppy reporting has seriously eroded the credibility of media reports on these topics.

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