CBS News and its flagship program, 60 Minutes, have been part of many controversies. In the 1950s, before 60 Minutes existed, Edward R. Murrow tussled with Sen. Joseph McCarthy. In the 1990s, their report about a Big Tobacco whistleblower led to the Brown and Williamson tobacco company leaning on CBS’ management, events later told in the movie The Insider. In 2004, Dan Rather went to air with documents about President George W. Bush’s National Guard service, which turned out to be forgeries, ending Rather’s career at CBS.
However, in none of those situations did any powerful person, much less the president of the United States, call for the “end” of CBS News or 60 Minutes. Donald Trump did both of those things late at night on Wednesday.
In a highly unusual move, FCC and CBS release unedited ’60 Minutes’ Harris interview amid Trump lawsuit & FCC inquiry into news bias. CBS says the unedited portions show ” ’60 Minutes’ broadcast was not doctored or deceitful.” FCC to allow public comment. https://t.co/kABNmYOCxY
— Meg James (@MegJamesLAT) February 5, 2025
Trump sued CBS News last year, claiming that they had deceptively edited an interview with his opponent, Kamala Harris. This week, under pressure from the FCC, CBS released raw transcripts and video footage from the interview, the same day, they handed over the same material to the government. CBS is also said to be under pressure from its corporate parent, Paramount to settle the suit, especially considering that Paramount has a pending merger before the government- something that CBS News is reportedly “irate” about.
