Since October, the Media Research Center repeatedly smeared CBS by baselessly claiming it had altered a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris last October. The loud whining from the MRC and the rest of the Trump Regime Media — with an assist from the politically biased Federal Communications Commission, now subservient to Trump — eventually got so overwhelming that CBS finally released a transcript and video. Nicholas Fondacaro rushed to put the most pejorative negative spin he could cobble together in a Feb. 5 post:
After being compelled by the Federal Communications Commission to turn over the unedited transcript and video of their infamous interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris for 60 Minutes, the FCC released it to the public.
After reviewing the video (clip from the raw video below), NewsBusters can confirm that what appeared on 60 Minutes was highly edited. Not only did they edit what appeared on 60 Minutes, they also edited what appeared on Face the Nation, including cutting out a hard hitting question that called out the Biden-Harris administration for looking weak on the world stage.
[…]In a statement following Trump’s accusations of deceitful editing, which culminated with a $10 billion lawsuit against the news outlet, CBS insisted the accusation was “false.”
“Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response,” they argued. Adding: “When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment.”
But what CBS did was pluck out a fragment of a sentence that was in the middle of a word salad being spoken by candidate a with a problem connecting with voters. Again, they also edited out their reporter asking a question with critical analysis against said candidate. They later followed up with a different 60 Minutes episode smearing said candidate’s opponent.
CBS was caught red handed with highly edited video designed to hide Harris’s bumbling answers in pursuit of a favorable election result. Now we know why CBS staunchly refused to release the unedited video to the public.
Meanwhile, observers without a partisan, anti-media ax to grind and not suffering from CBS Derangement Syndrome had a much less alarmist — and much less biased — take on the evidence. Brain Stelter at CNN pointed out that “The transcript confirms what CBS said: That it engaged in normal editing, not any nefarious activity like Trump alleged,” and it “does not indicate any fraudulent behavior by CBS.”
Colby Hall served up a more in-depth analysis that the MRC won’t tell you about, since it undermines its preferred narrative:
After careful review, I can confirm why CBS complied with the FCC’s demands: the footage and transcripts reveal that 60 Minutes followed the standard operating procedure that any news outlet would in editing a taped interview with a high-profile subject for air.
The raw footage is indeed different from what CBS aired. There are edits that reveal, well, editorial decisions intended to condense the raw footage down to the 13-minute segment that would ultimately air on 60 Minutes. That’s something that has happened in nearly every single broadcast interview ever. Those who complain about it are either parading their ignorance of how news production works or are making up false accusations as a cudgel to smear and intimidate the media.
One could argue that CBS did make a mistake by airing two different answers given by Harris to the same question. But it’s hard to see how either answer materially changes the substance of her response, which ultimately was a relatively bland bit of pablum that declined to address the question directly.
[…]As a former television producer who has conducted hundreds of interviews and scripted television programming by poring through transcripts, I can assure anyone that what 60 Minutes did was standard operating procedure.
Hall offered Trump’s presumed endgame:
Trump knows television and television production. So, we should assume that because of his experience and television knowledge, his attacks on CBS are less about the truth and more about browbeating media outlets into submission. Rumors persist that CBS is planning to settle with Trump, as ABC News did recently, revealing why Trump is on the attack here.
At this point, it’s not about the money. It’s about scaring news outlets into more generous coverage. There is no other way to describe this effort to cast a chilling effect on the media than authoritarian.
Despite the lack of actual evidence, the MRC still sought to exploit the story for partisan effect. Curtis Houck huffed in a Feb. 6 post: “With new reporting Wednesday night about CBS News employees enraged by its compliance with the FCC demand for the full, unedited Kamala Harris 60 Minutesinterview and rumors of a settlement with President Trump, Puck’s Dylan Byers bolstered the argument the liberal media are filled to the brim with insecure partisans.” Houck mentioned nothing about observers who pointed out that CBS did nothing wrong.
Jorge Bonilla similarly ignored those observers, because he had an anti-CBS narrative to peddle in a Feb. 27 post:
CBS News is still smarting over Paramount’s decision to release the full transcript of the creatively-edited 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, which removed significant word salads from her responses. The beleaguered CBS Evening News is still defending the interview, even as the parties move closer to settling the $20B lawsuit.
[…]Compare what CBS actually did in furtherance of Harris’s candidacy to Maurice DuBois’ labored copy, which focuses on the semantics of Trump’s statement. There was indeed some taking out, and viewers saw something different to what was originally said. CBS News is desperately trying to cling to some shred of credibility in the midst of turmoil which includes cratering ratings subsequent to the ouster of anchor Norah O’Donnell, and a much-criticized overhaul of the Evening News (we told you so).
But the news division’s tripling down comes as its corporate parent, Paramount, has decided to enter into mediation with Trump- a necessary step towards coming into agreement on a settlement.
[…]The decision to continually defend malicious and deceptive editing in the midst of potential settlement negotiations is but the latest in a string of incidents standing as proof evident of the decline and fall of CBS News.
Bonilla’s decision to continually insist there was “malicious and deceptive editing” in the midst of less biased observers pointing out otherwise — as well as a complete refusal to acknowledge that those observers exist — stands as proof evident that the MRC is much more interested in pushing a biased narrative than telling its readers the truth.