Paramount Considering Settling Trump '60 Minutes' Lawsuit / FCC demands 60 Minutes footage

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rodoheel

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It's hard to express how much contempt I would have for Paramount if they settled this lawsuit. The ABC settlement over George Stephanopoulos's suit was bad enough, but at least there was a theoretical path to a libel ruling there. Trump's suit against Paramount for 60 Minutes supposedly "deceptively" editing an interview with Kamala Harris is absolute laughable dreck that will be thrown out on a motion to dismiss by any judge with two working brain cells. The theory that Trump was wronged or damaged by the interview in any way was completely without merit when it was filed, and even more so now that he WON THE ELECTION.

It sounds like Paramount's logic for settling is that they want the Trump admin to approve their merger and the Trump team is leaning on this is leverage. Leaving aside that it is entirely illegal for an elected official to leverage the threat of regulatory action for his own personal benefit, I can't believe even in today's culture of corporate leaders rushing to stroke Trump off in exchange for favors that Paramount is willing to debase itself like this. They should be raising holy hell about the fact that anyone in Trumpland would even suggest that this suit is leverage for approving the merger or any other action. But this is the problem when media networks are all gobbled up by large corporate conglomerates - they're more worried about the earnings report for shareholders than about ethics or morals.

Every single person associated with 60 Minutes should quit if this happens. Probably every single news person at CBS should quit. It would be an absolute betrayal of the newsroom by the parent company. For all the whining about "Mainstream Media" by the MAGA crowd, this is the real problem in modern media - gutless corporate overlords who are so concerned about sucking up to the president that they refuse to cover him accurately. The NYT isn't perfect, but they seem like the closest thing we have at this point to a major mainstream news organization that isn't actively bending the knee to Daddy Trump.
 
Also covered here (but not objecting to this as a separate thread — I note the other thread b/c this settlement would be part of an emerging pattern by media):

 
I'm sure they don't, which is why they better make their displeasure vocally known right now
The controlling owner wants to sell and Trump’s government has to approve the transaction. It matters very little what the folks at 60 Minutes say, short of them all quitting maybe.
 

“…
It started with ABC News, which agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit by paying $15 million to Trump’s future foundation and another $1 million to cover his legal fees.

Then Meta followed suit, forking over $25 million to Trump’s presidential library to resolve a 2021 lawsuit he filed against the company.

Now, Paramount—the parent company of CBS—is reportedly negotiating a settlement in a lawsuit Trump brought over what he claims was a “deceptively edited” 60 Minutes interview.

There are also reports that X wants to settle a lawsuit Trump brought when the social network was still called Twitter. …”
 
Ironic isn't the word I would use. It's first and foremost corrupt as hell by Trump. But we already know who he is and how he operates, so I'm directing my contempt at Paramount here.
well given that dump lies all the time and 60 minutes has called him on them time and time again id say that its irony. i certainly wouldnt expect 60 min to pay him for the lying. doesnt really matter.....everyone in this fucked up country is controlled by money regardless of what they say
 
The controlling owner wants to sell and Trump’s government has to approve the transaction. It matters very little what the folks at 60 Minutes say, short of them all quitting maybe.

If this goes thru, the folks at 60 Minutes need to quit if they hope to retain any credibility with the public.

At some point, we all are personally going to have make a decision in our lives - what are we willing to stand for, and what are we prepared to risk for standing up for what we stand for?
 
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I guaranty you virtually no one at 60 Minutes supports such a settlement.
Completely agree. I'm sure most employees at Meta, the Washington Post, etc. oppose their bosses' shameful genuflection to Trump as well. I won't be giving those corporations any of my business either.

Besides our vote, the average American has little power, but we do have our time, and we do have our attention, and we do have our money. To the greatest extent possible, I will not support spineless, greedy corporations that bend the knee to curry favor with Trump.
 

FCC Requests ‘60 Minutes’ Harris Interview Material as it Reviews Paramount-Skydance Merger​

Government has asked for footage, transcript from the segment, which is subject of a lawsuit against CBS by President Trump​



“… CBS News said in a statement Friday that it is working to comply with the FCC’s request for the “full, unedited transcript and camera feeds from our interview with Vice President Harris which aired on October 7, 2024.”

Trump’s lawsuit against CBS, which seeks $10 billion in damages, alleges that the network committed election interference by editing portions of an interview with Harris, favoring her campaign for president. Trump claimed CBS aired one version of the interview in a segment on its Sunday morning news magazine show “Face the Nation” that wasn’t flattering to the vice president, and then another version in the full interview on that evening’s episode of “60 Minutes.”

CBS has said it aired a more succinct version of Harris’s interview on “60 Minutes.”


FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has made it clear to Paramount executives that the agency’s review of its merger with Skydance will be tough and has said that bias accusations against Paramount’s CBS News are fair game for the agency. In a November Fox News interview, he cited a news-distortion complaint against CBS from the Center for American Rights as an element he would consider during the merger review.

The FCC has authority over the transaction because it would involve the transfer of broadcast television licenses held by CBS. …”

😮
 

FCC Requests ‘60 Minutes’ Harris Interview Material as it Reviews Paramount-Skydance Merger​

Government has asked for footage, transcript from the segment, which is subject of a lawsuit against CBS by President Trump​



“… CBS News said in a statement Friday that it is working to comply with the FCC’s request for the “full, unedited transcript and camera feeds from our interview with Vice President Harris which aired on October 7, 2024.”

Trump’s lawsuit against CBS, which seeks $10 billion in damages, alleges that the network committed election interference by editing portions of an interview with Harris, favoring her campaign for president. Trump claimed CBS aired one version of the interview in a segment on its Sunday morning news magazine show “Face the Nation” that wasn’t flattering to the vice president, and then another version in the full interview on that evening’s episode of “60 Minutes.”

CBS has said it aired a more succinct version of Harris’s interview on “60 Minutes.”


FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has made it clear to Paramount executives that the agency’s review of its merger with Skydance will be tough and has said that bias accusations against Paramount’s CBS News are fair game for the agency. In a November Fox News interview, he cited a news-distortion complaint against CBS from the Center for American Rights as an element he would consider during the merger review.

The FCC has authority over the transaction because it would involve the transfer of broadcast television licenses held by CBS. …”

😮
This is one of the most disturbing, naked abuses of power I can recall. Capitulating to this is a trap.
 
America wanted an Orbon dictatorship, and this is the consequence. I look forward to having to quit my job when i refuse to contribute to fascist propaganda.
 

Top ‘60 Minutes’ Producer Says He Will Not Apologize Over Trump Lawsuit​

Bill Owens, the show’s executive producer, addressed his staff as CBS’s parent company, Paramount, pursued a legal settlement with the president.


“… Many Paramount executives believe a settlement would increase the odds that the Trump administration would approve a pending multibillion-dollar merger with another company, and Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, supports the effort.

But the move has caused deep distress inside CBS News and particularly at “60 Minutes,” which broadcast the interview with Ms. Harris in October. Journalists there believe a settlement would be an extraordinary capitulation because the editing of the Harris interview was in keeping with standard journalistic practice.

In the prime-time version, Ms. Harris appeared to give an answer, to one question, that was different from the response she gave in a preview of the interview that aired the day before. CBS has said that Ms. Harris had given one lengthy answer and that it had chosen to air different portions at different times.

… Mr. Owens said CBS planned on Monday to send an unedited transcript and camera feeds of the Harris interview to the Federal Communications Commission. A CBS spokesman said Monday evening that the network had provided that material. The agency, which is led by Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, formally requested those materials from the network last week.

“The edit is perfectly fine; let’s put that to bed so we can get on with our lives,” Mr. Owens said about the transcript, according to the people who heard his remarks. …”
 
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