Safer began his journalism career as a reporter for various newspapers in Canada and England. Later, he joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a correspondent and producer.

He went to Harbord Collegiate Institute when he was young.

In 1964, Safer joined CBS News as a London-based correspondent. In 1965, he opened the CBS News bureau in Saigon. That year he followed a group of United States Marines to the village of Cam Ne, for what was described as a "search and destroy" mission. When the Marines arrived, they gave orders in English to the inhabitants - by all accounts harmless civilians - to evacuate the village. When the homes were cleared, the Marines burned their thatched roofs with flamethrowers and Zippo lighters. Safer's report on this event was broadcast on CBS News and was among the first reports to paint a bleak picture of the Vietnam War. President Lyndon Baines Johnson called CBS's president and accused Safer and his colleagues of having "shat on the American flag."

In 1967, he was named the London bureau chief, a post he held for three years. In 1970, he left London to join the CBS News program, 60 Minutes. Safer has been a "60 Minutes" correspondent for over 35 years.

Safer is also the author of the best-seller, Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam.

He and his wife, the former Jane Fearer, live in New York. They have a daughter, Sarah. Safer is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario.