CBS News Staffers Irate Over Talk of Paramount Settling With Trump Over ’60 Minutes’ Lawsuit

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As a follower, I might express this as: “Week after week, I notice that the journalistic perspectives presented by ’60 Minutes’ can differ significantly between Paramount Global and CBS News.

Employees at CBS News, which encompasses the esteemed news magazine along with “CBS Evening News” and boasts roots in television news dating back to Edward R. Murrow’s era, are simmering with frustration over the possibility that their parent company, Paramount Global, might settle a $10 billion defamation lawsuit brought forth by former President Donald Trump against “60 Minutes.” This settlement seems to be based on questionable arguments, according to them.

In the last fortnight, two reports emerged – one published by The New York Times on Thursday and another by The Wall Street Journal earlier this month. These reports hinted that executives at Paramount were exploring methods to resolve a lawsuit. This lawsuit was initiated in federal court in the Northern District of Texas in November, accusing CBS’s “60 Minutes” of attempting to deceive voters by broadcasting two manipulated versions of comments made during an interview with Kamala Harris, who was then running against Donald Trump for the presidency. In response, CBS submitted a motion to dismiss the case.

Despite criticism from legal experts that the deal appears poorly structured, Paramount is being sold to Skydance Media, a transaction valued at billions for Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount through her family’s National Amusements Inc. theater chain. CBS News personnel speculate that Paramount and Redstone might negotiate a settlement to expedite the Skydance deal without significant delay.

The filing of an agreement on Friday by lawyers representing President Trump hints at possible negotiations in the future. This agreement delays their response to CBS’s motion to dismiss until February 7th. While this doesn’t necessarily mean a settlement is imminent, it might suggest that both parties are discussing potential resolutions.

Additionally, fresh demands are surfacing. “CBS News received a Letter of Inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday, requesting the complete, uncensored transcript and video footage from our interview with Vice President Harris that was broadcast on October 7, 2024,” CBS News stated in a release on Friday. They are currently cooperating with this demand since they are bound by law to do so. The FCC has also renewed an accusation against WCBS-TV, based in New York and owned by Paramount, claiming “intentional news distortion” linked to the Harris interview on “60 Minutes”.

One CBS News correspondent expressed, “We’re at their mercy regarding what Shari and the executives choose to do. It’s truly unfortunate to consider that the news division might be used as a negotiating tool in this larger agreement.

As a movie enthusiast, I’ve reached out to representatives from Paramount and CBS, but they’ve chosen to keep mum on the matter at hand. Similarly, when I approached a representative for Redstone, they too decided to remain tight-lipped about the topic.

Two key figures in the company’s news division, Wendy McMahon, CEO of CBS News and Stations, and Bill Owens, executive producer of “60 Minutes,” have expressed their disagreement about settling the lawsuit to higher-ups at Paramount. This stance not only risks damaging one of TV’s most esteemed journalism programs but also demotivating the staff of CBS News. Some CBS News employees are speculating that a settlement could trigger strong backlash from some of the network’s prominent anchors and personalities.

Unlike some media-conglomerate CEOs who are often closely involved with news divisions, Redstone’s role is primarily on the board of directors. However, she has been actively expressing opinions on the controversies at CBS News more frequently than her father, Sumner Redstone, ever did, as suggested by a longtime CBS employee.

In October, Redstone openly criticized CBS News leadership following a contentious exchange on “CBS Mornings” between co-host Tony Dokoupil and author Ta-Nehisi Coates, where Dokoupil questioned Coates about apparent hostility towards Israel in his work. During a talk at an event in New York City during Advertising Week, an industry conference, Redstone stated, “I believe we made a mistake” and later added, “I think we made a bad decision this week.

This month, I found myself drawn into a controversy following the airing of a segment on “60 Minutes” that scrutinized the opposition by ex-State Department officials toward the Biden administration’s stance on Israel’s actions against Hamas. Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, criticized the segment as biased and one-sided in a statement, emphasizing CBS’s past insensitivity regarding Jewish issues. In response to these concerns, CBS appointed Susan Zirinsky, a former head of their news division, as interim executive editor, with responsibilities that include maintaining standards and reviewing stories and journalistic practices.

In the past few weeks, an increasing number of news outlets have attempted to appease President Trump. The pledge made by Disney towards ABC News raised eyebrows following the company’s $15 million settlement to Donald Trump’s presidential library. This settlement was a result of anchor George Stephanopoulos incorrectly stating on air in March that Trump had been found guilty in a court case for sexually assaulting writer E. Jean Carroll. However, it is important to note that Trump had actually been found liable by a jury for sexual abuse. Despite this, legal experts believed ABC News had a good chance of winning the case. Furthermore, Amazon has consented to produce a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.

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2025-01-31 23:47