In media circles, this week’s hire of a prominent New York Times columnist as a correspondent for CBS’s 60 Minutes was greeted with disbelief.

The collective response went something like this: “What?!”

Ross Douthat would not have been high on anyone’s list to replace the likes of Scott Pelley, Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, all experienced reporters who were let go in recent weeks from the venerable news show. Or the likes of Anderson Cooper, who left of his own accord amid the months-long tumult and internal complaints that political bias was being injected into 60 Minutes news reports.

Yes, it seemed downright odd. After all, Douthat has no broadcast television experience and he is – in the journalistic vernacular – an opinion guy, not a news guy. He’s certainly not a practitioner of investigative journalism, the longtime calling card of 60 Minutes.

Douthat is known for his lofty takes on national politics and religion – not for the usual reporting skills of grilling reluctant sources with tough questions and digging out information that somebody important doesn’t want you to have.

His Times boss, the top opinion editor, Katie........

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