Morley Safer, who formally retired a week ago as a correspondent of CBS' TV news magazine 60 Minutes, died Thursday, the network confirmed. He was 84.
Safer was the longest-serving correspondent of the venerable news program. He filed his last report in March, and CBS formally announced his retirement May 11.
"Morley was one of the most important journalists in any medium, ever," CBS Chairman and CEO, Leslie Moonves said in a statement Thursday. "All of us at CBS offer our sincerest condolences over the loss of one of CBS' and journalism's greatest treasures."
The network didn't immediately release a cause of death, but said "Safer was in declining health when he announced his retirement last week."
Jeff Fager, the executive producer of 60 Minutes and a close friend, said Safer was "a master storyteller, a gentleman and a wonderful friend. We will miss him very much."
In his 46 years on the venerable program, Safer filed more than 900 reports. His last story was a profile of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. The network ran an hour-long program celebrating Safer's career — “Morley Safer: A Reporter’s Life” — after Sunday’s regular edition of 60 Minutes.
On Sunday, Safer tweeted: "It’s been a wonderful run, and I want to thank the millions of people who have been loyal to our @60Minutes broadcast. Thank you!" It was his last post on the social network.
Safer received numerous awards for his work, including 12 Emmys, three Overseas Press Club Awards, three Peabody Awards, two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, two George Polk Memorial Awards and the Paul White Award from the Radio/Television News Directors Association.
"No correspondent had more extraordinary range, from war reporting to coverage of every aspect of modern culture. His writing alone defined original reporting," CBS News President David Rhodes said Thursday.
Born in Toronto, Safer, like many broadcasters of his generation, began his career as a print journalist, working for newspapers and wire services in Canada and England before joining Canadian Broadcasting Corp. At Canada's largest broadcasting entity, he toured Europe, North Africa and the Middle East on assignments, including the war for Algerian independence. He was the only Western correspondent in East Berlin the night the Communists began building the Berlin Wall in August 1961, according to his bio on CBS' website.
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