Three "60 Minutes" correspondents stay on

What they're saying: In a memo to colleagues, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said, "Newsrooms are not supposed to be run like dictatorships. Collaboration and argument are the way we have always worked at 60."

• "We feared that our returning might be construed as an endorsement of the existing power structure. That is simply, categorically not the case. Here's why we're are staying: We don't want to see 60 Minutes die," they added.

The big picture: "60 Minutes" has been hit by high-profiles departures and leadership changes, stoking concern among staff and viewers about the future of the broadcast.

• The correspondents said they are "still deeply upset" by the firings of former executive producer Tanya Simon and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich.
• But they said they are "working to build trust" with Nick Bilton, the newly installed executive producer who correspondent Scott Pelley accused of being hardly qualified for the role. Pelley was later fired.

The bottom line: "If we can continue doing the work that made this show what it is — committing acts of independent, fearless journalism and storytelling — we're here for it," they wrote. "If not, we leave."