Sixteen Million Ways To Say Sorry, Not Sorry

TOP LINE

On the eve of the July 4th holiday weekend, CBS News settled the 20 Billion dollar lawsuit filed by President Trump against the network and 60 Minutes for its edit of the Kamala Harris interview a month before the presidential election. 

While not apologizing for the heavy-handed edit that Trump said distorted Harris’ overall performance, the network agreed to contribute 16 million dollars to President Trump’s future presidential library. In the future, 60 Minutes has agreed to promptly release transcripts from interviews with presidential candidates.  The new CBS editorial policy was dubbed the “Trump Rule."

It apparently took a legal settlement to mandate greater transparency at 60 Minutes.   As the senior CBS News investigative correspondent, I insisted that the full, unedited transcript of my interview with President Trump be released in July 2020 which it was.   I was genuinely surprised that releasing full transcripts was not standard policy at the network.  

The settlement is another crushing blow for network television credibility and has greatly diminished the reputation of CBS News and its flagship broadcast 60 Minutes. 

Whatever your views of CBS News, it is also a sad day for journalism.  As the Senior Investigative correspondent at CBS News, our reporting was a catalyst for legislative change that impacted a million veterans and their families. 

Based on historical ratings, with so many digital offerings on phones and social media platforms, once a viewer breaks with their traditional viewing habits, they are unlikely to return.  

The fallout from the Kamala Harris edit, and the settlement of the 60 Minutes lawsuit have rendered CBS News a diminished asset.

DEEP DIVE

When I worked at Fox News, our chairman Roger Ailes remarked that it didn’t matter how good our product was, we had to wait for the viewer to sour on their usual channel before they would give us a try.

When they sampled Fox News, Ailes said we had 45 seconds to convince them to stay.  There was a small window, Ailes insisted…

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… to change their traditional viewing habits.   If the viewer didn’t like what they saw, Ailes said it would be another five years before the viewer would give Fox News Channel a second shot.

There is general agreement in the TV news business that Ailes was a brilliant television executive whose deep seated character flaws led to his departure.   His analysis of the media marketplace now feels outdated.  Ailes died in 2017. 

The intersection of distrust for mainstream media and the explosion of digital choices have created alternatives for the news consumer. Declining corporate TV media ratings show that viewers may take even longer than five years to return to traditional platforms, if they do at all.

CBS’ SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS

The reputational damage to CBS News’ 60 Minutes did not happen in a vacuum. These were self-inflicted wounds. 

Earlier this year, the Executive Producer of 60 Minutes resigned.  Bill Owens blamed C-Suite interference connected to President Trump’s $20 Billion lawsuit against the network.  Owens may have had a point, but that explanation wasn’t the whole story.

On Owen’s watch, there have been well-documented controversies alleging biased coverage as well as the failed relaunch of the CBS Evening News.

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