The 46th News & Documentary Emmy Awards nominations are out, and it seems that everyone is talking about just one of them. The “Outstanding Edited Interview” category is hardly a common draw for public or even industry attention. However, one of this year’s nominees is CBS for its primetime special featuring then-Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The interview is the basis for a $20 billion lawsuit by President Donald Trump against CBS News and its parent company, Paramount Global, alleging election interference due to the biased editing out of an embarrassing answer by Harris.
The nomination seems clearly designed to push back at Trump and rally around CBS. (For the record, I opposed this lawsuit on both legal and policy grounds.) However, it sends precisely the wrong message for the media at this time.
Many have criticized CBS for its editing of the interview with journalist Bill Whitaker after the network shortened portions of Harris’s answer to a question about the war in Gaza in its initial broadcast. It later provided a full transcript of her remarks online. (For full disclosure, I worked twice under contract with CBS as a legal analyst.)
While I have great reservations about the legal action, I agree with Trump that the interview showed bias and an effort to protect Harris. CBS has been repeatedly accused of such bias, including criticism of the performance of Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan as moderators in the presidential debate. That included reneging on a pledge not to “fact check” and showing manifest bias in their treatment of the candidates.
In the interview, Harris had one of her signature verbal pileups, an incomprehensible effort to explain the U.S. position in the Middle East. The word salad was played on the Sunday show but the primetime interview on 60 Minutes featured only the second half of the answer.
The “Face the Nation” clip showed Harris saying that
“The work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”
The “60 Minutes” clip showed Harris saying more concisely that “we are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States, to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
This interview, shortly before the election, was considered one of the most important of the campaign. Harris avoided spontaneous exchanges or interactions with the media and only agreed to a few interviews with favorable outlets. One of the issues in the campaign was Harris’s embarrassing answers, particularly while representing the United States abroad. These include:
“I am here. Standing. Here. on the northern flank, on the eastern flank, talking about what we have in terms of the eastern flank and our NATO allies, and what is at stake at this very moment.”
“Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine, So basically that’s wrong.”
The word salad moments were common and Harris was kept on a tightly scripted agenda where the press was kept at a distance. Thus, the CBS interview was viewed as one of the few opportunities to see how Harris would do in an actual prolonged interview.
In other words, it was news that Harris struggled again when asked to speak for any length of time with a reporter.
60 Minutes decided that viewers did not have to see that part of the answer in primetime, even as part of an answer in which Harris claims that they want to be “clear” on where they stand on the issue.
CBS was wrong in the editing. Moreover, the suggestion that it should be given an award for such biased editing says much about the state of American journalism. No doubt many in the media approved of the network cleaning up Harris, yet again, for public reviewing.
None of this changes my view of the underlying litigation. Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, is believed to want to close the lawsuit to clear the way for a multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media. It also wants to avoid continuing tensions with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which can delay or halt the purchase.
However, this lawsuit would ultimately fail. The media is allowed to engage in such editing. Indeed, bias itself is not generally actionable. Moreover, there were moments when Whitaker did press Harris, in sharp contrast to most of her interviews on shows like The View, Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show, and Late Night with Stephen Colbert.
I have been a vocal critic of the mainstream media for embracing what I call “advocacy journalism” in my book, The Indispensable Right. Many in this country view mainstream media as a de facto state media due to the bias shown against Trump and for Democratic talking points. Indeed, the mantra “Let’s Go Brandon!” was embraced by millions as a criticism of the media as much as it was a criticism of President Biden.
However, the threats of harassing lawsuits destroy any moral high ground for Trump. It is also entirely unnecessary. As I will address this week at the Library of Congress, the public is leaving mainstream media en masse in favor of new media. Revenue and readers/viewers are dropping for many media outlets. That includes CBS, which has continued to struggle with ratings while refusing to offer more balanced coverage, including a recent controversy over pushing the “baby hoax.”
CBS was wrong in the editing of the interview and the nomination of the network for the interview only magnifies that error. However, the Administration should leave this matter to the public and the market to sort out.
Oh my, the elite are giving themselves more awards again. I can appreciate that it requires serious editing talent trying to make Kamala Harris appear coherent and cerebral, but only if the expectation of it is grounded in reality.
It is funny isn’t it. We give ourselves awards. They might include a category for the most views for competing networks. What competes with 60 minutes, same day, same time?
Turley– “However, the threats of harassing lawsuits destroy any moral high ground for Trump.”
That sounds true.
But it misses the point.
We are in a type of civil war and ‘moral high ground’ is significantly less important than strategic high ground.
In times past I would have thought a suit such as this was egregious but now I rejoice to see it. Hit back! Hit back hard!
Did anybody wonder about ‘moral high ground’ when Trump and his supporters were under dishonest, lawless and unending attacks during the last several years? No. They were cheered.
Look at Europe today to see where this ends when these fanatics aren’t strongly opposed. See how AfD in Germany is being treated by the new Stasi. Look at Romania.
Europe ignored past lessons. Kerensky thought he had no enemies to the left and that he should keep to the moral high ground. How did that work out?
I believe the Emmy for “The “Outstanding Edited Interview” category is brand new for this year. Please double check me.
Dear Professor Turley,
I respectfully disagree with your opinion that the Administration should leave this matter to the public and the market to sort out.
I believe the most important point here is that CBS used its (free) access to the public broadcast airwaves to influence a national election (as they’ve attempted in the past, notably Dan Rather and Mary Mapes and their forged documents). In the Harris interview, CBS went beyond ‘selective editing’ to instead manipulatively changing her answers to match them up with different questions asked at other points in the interview. This is quite serious: CBS dishonestly changed the answers of a major-party candidate’s sole primetime mass-media interview in order to promote her candidacy, or, rather, to hide her verbal incomprehensibility and her poor fit for the role of president. CBS effectively broadcast a lie to the public over the public airwaves.
CBS’s portion of the airwaves, for which it pays nothing, generates millions if not billions of dollars for them and their corporate owners. But along with the airwave allocation comes a responsibility to act for the public good. In this case, clearly, CBS did not. Their intent was not to foster public understanding, as required by the FCC, but to swing a national election. Had this manipulated interview been broadcast on a cable channel, such as MSNBC, I believe your argument would be much stronger.
Based on this manipulative interview, and considering CBS’s past history, the FCC should revoke their broadcast license and auction it off. CBS’s corporate welfare free-ride should end, especially when it’s used to manipulate the public.
PS: I further think the government should periodically auction off all the public airwave licenses – ABC, NBC, FOX, and PBS’s. Let the market determine their value; plus it would add billions to the Treasury.
Just another thumb to the eye of this nation’s conscience by the evil Democrat National Communists.
Dear Prof Turley,
For the record, I oppose this silly lawsuit as well. CBS biased! Perish the thought. Donny two-dolls must be joking. ..
Presently, I’m most interested in the ‘Trump-Judge’ (sic) who recently shut down Trump’s use of the AEA (Aliens Enemies Act of 1798) to deport [declared] Hanibal Lector, enemy combatants, rapists, murderers and illegal aliens eating the dogs and cats. .. What do you know about it?
You know perfectly well Trump didn’t come up with the AEA of 1798 all on his own. He had ‘expert’ legal help.
*note Trump may have a tenuous grasp on the U.S. Declaration of Love and Unity, as well as the Monroe Doctrine .. . but he didn’t pull the AEA of 1798 out of his hat.
I read the ruling. If left unassailable (*the SCOTUS lifted a prior injunction 5-4) it will have far reaching consequences for Trump’s ‘homegrown terrorists’, ‘enemy combatants’, the nature of ‘war’, 1,000 years of western jurisprudence, due process .. . and the rule of law.
“The Proclamation makes no reference to and in no manner suggests that a threat exists of an organized, armed group of individuals entering the United States at the direction of Venezuela to conquer the country or assume control over a portion of the nation. Thus, the Proclamation’s language cannot be read as describing conduct that falls within the meaning of ‘invasion’ for purposes of the AEA,” …
… “Allowing the President to unilaterally define the conditions when he may invoke the AEA, and then summarily declare that those conditions exist, would remove all limitations to the Executive Branch’s authority under the AEA, and would strip the courts of their traditional role of interpreting Congressional statutes to determine whether a government official has exceeded the statute’s scope. The law does not support such a position,”
*Obama deported 3-5million people (most without any due process) , assassinated U.S. citizens abroad, bombed civilians around the world and overthrew sovereign nation-states at will .. . all without invoking the Aliens Enemies Act once.
You’re an idiot.
What is with you people that think the AEA is about getting rid of combatants, invaders, or pirates (as ignorant george said)?
We dont DEPORT combatants. We shoot them or imprison them.
There are some truly ignorant people on this site.
We DEPORT the people here who are associated with them. Thats what the AEA does.
Forget Pirates. The Aliens Enemies Act of 1798 is Donny Two-Dolls gangster paradise .. .
Retard
Maybe its an Amish Paradise.
https://youtu.be/lOfZLb33uCg
Haute Culture?
Alternatively…
The Dregs of Society.
America has hit a new low which was never the intent of the Founders.
Thanks, Abe!
The opinion on the AEA was very clear and well-written. It made two principal holdings:
1. The meanings of “invasion” and “predatory incursion” are not political questions beyond the authority of courts to decide, under the Baker v Carr tests. This could be appealed also on the basis of Ludecke, which held that the courts could not decide whether a declared war in which actual fighting had ended, and the enemy government had ceased to exist, years before was still in being. Frankfurter’s opinion for the majority said this decision had been committed preclusively to the political branches under the AEA. The question is a bit different here, and it seems to me there is room for the court to come to the decision it did. There is also room for the 5th Circuit and Supreme Court to come out either way under Baker and/or Ludecke.
2. The terms “invasion” and “predatory incursion” both require an armed, organised military force, which the Proclamation did not find and declare. This is a straight question of statutory interpretation, and the 5th Circuit and Supreme Court could come out either way, under Baker and/or Ludecke.
It’s hard to predict how the appellate process will go.
“It’s hard to predict how the appellate process will go.”
It sure is. and why is that?
because this
“1. The meanings of “invasion” and “predatory incursion” are
notpolitical questions beyond the authority of courts to decide”A single “word salad” during decades of an old ‘banquet of deception’ across an imaginary ‘aisle?’ Again, here and elsewhere, there is no Democratic agenda, there is no Republican agenda, there is only a constitutional agenda, which is quite clearly, concisely and plainly stated in the Preamble to the US Constitution, which is as much an integral, inseparable and enforceable part of the Constitution as any other; coloring, flavoring and providing legal context for all that follows. From the perspective of a former career industrial electrician, the Preamble to the Constitution is roughly tantamount to the BIOS in a computer system; boot-up a computer with a defective BIOS and what do you get; garbage or nothing at all. Boot-up the US Constitution without the Preamble and what do you get; nothing, or the unduly obscenely-wealthy-rich running America through their bought and paid-for pawns and puppets in the upper levels of pseudo-democratic government, by creating and maintaining a false divide across an imaginary aisle, exacerbated amongst all Americans in recent decades with cheaply and easily prevented mental disorders contributed to in large part with toxic US FDA approved food additives. In the long-run, JT’s emphasis on “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in the Age of Rage” becomes moot as the old political game of ‘divide and conquer’ succeeds again. Self-governance, not divisive politics, is the real issue.
There is an idea in Jonathan’s writings that counsels great caution against retreat from absolutist free speech. Engineering any limiting principle into a restriction carries the unreasonable risk of a rule that turns right around and bites you in the fanny.
CBS protected their girl and for that, they receive an Emmy in today’s Amerika. Plain and simple.
Well said. Skyraider!
Someone paid them to do it. Well hidden. DOGE is trying to find it.
Jonathan: I don’t know what DJT is complaining about. He won the election against Harris anyway–despite the CBS editing. But wannabee dictators are never satisfied. They want total control over the press. That’s the purpose behind DJT’s lawsuit, to send a message if intimidation. In the end, CBS will prevail because free expression includes the right to edit.
Now you accuse Harris of “word salad moments”. DJT can’t be accused of putting a few words together to convey a coherent or complete thought. Take during the campaign last year. At a September event at the Economic Club of NY DJT was asked what specific legislation he would propose to lower child care costs. Here was his response, in part:
“Well, I would do that. And we’re sitting down–you know, I was–somebody we had. Senator Marco Rubio and my daughter. Ivanka was so impactful on that issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that–because, look childcare is childcare, it couldn’t–you know there’s something–you have to have. In this country you have to have it”.
No chance you could make any sense out of that statement. Since then DJT has demonstrated even more his cognitive decline. That was on full display during his interview in the Oval Office with ABC’s Terry Moran this week. When they got around to the subject of immigration and Albrego Garcia, DJT lost it. He insisted AG was an MS-13 member–claiming the photo he held of AG’s hand on Truth Social was the proof. DJT pointed to the letters/numbers “MS-13” on AG’s knuckles.. Moran pushed back by pointing out the “MS-13” designation was not on AG’s hand when he was photographed at the hotel in El Salvador. Moran correctly pointed out DJT’s photo had been photoshopped. DJT became angry and refused to accept the facts or even discuss any truth but his own. If you look at DJT’s demeanor in that interview you can tell he has become detached from reality.
After the interview ended Terry Moran got up and looked at DJT’s framed copy of the Declaration of Independence. Moran asked DJT what that document meant to him. DJT responded: “Well ,it means exactly what it says, it’s a declaration. A declaration of unity and love and respect. And it means a lot. And it’s something very special to our country”. That one statement revealed DJT’s empty brain. A middle schooler could better explain the meaning and significance of the Declaration of Independence!
Terry did not ask him what it meant; he asked what it meant “to him.”
Always trying to make noise where there is none. CLown.
McIntarded suffers from white-liberal fragility.
This is the best Denny could come up with, while his hero, Biden, gave us this nugget
We hold these truths to be self-evident, all men are created by… go.. you know the thing..
DJT hates people who criticise him, especially if they are women. This moron’s fragile ego can’t handle opposition. He would love to control world-wide media.
Dennis the Menace & cohort Gigi… you never did answer who is paying you to troll Prof. Turley with your inane 5th grade.. no.. sorry 3rd grade.. fictional reviews and TDS name-calling.. and.. of course you can’t answer why loving ‘our’ (exclusiding you, et al) Declaration of Independence means one has an ’empty brain…’?’
I think these editors absolutely deserve to win the Emmy for their work. It took an amazing amount of skill to make Harris even sound semi coherent in this interview. Lol
ADVOCACY JOURNALISM, Professor. The new name deceives like woman, they them, DEI blah blah…
It’s simply anti constitution and anti American. They’re free now to drop the disguises as in—> we see through a glass darkly but then face to face.
Mayor Adams used the tactic as they tore up hotels and wasted food instead of going in masses to a church to offer thanks and leaving what was given better than what was given. Good job, Adams. Then he said get them OUT.
They are as clanging cymbals … more like clanging pots and pans.
What’s your profile in heaven? Poster child for white–> hillbilly; poster child for blacks–> George Floyd; poster child for Latins–> Abrego Garcia; poster child for lgbt–> Dylan Mulvaney…
It’s by groups.
Agent Starling
What is telling about Bidens surge the border is could have increased legal immigration from Latin America lawfully requiring passport, visa, skills, trades, profession, literacy, English etc. He chose the route that would attract gang cartels. Dangerous sociopaths who would kill children and kidnap and sell them. He should be charged. It’s treason with conspiracy.
How much work does it take to make Dementia Donny sound coherent?
It’s obvious that the Trump lawsuit against CBS is designed to keep the story of a biased news organization front and center in the news. As a testament to the effectiveness of this tactic we see that the story is alive and well on the Turley blog. Mission accomplished. I say touche Mr. Trump. Touche.
I’ve written this before, Professor. Your gentlemanly tut-tuts, furrowed brow and earnest sighs have absolutely no impact on the sociopathic Left. “Taking the high road” had its day, and failed utterly. Lawfare is the Left’s chosen weapon. Let them have a bellyfull of it.
“… bias itself is not generally actionable.” Correct. Yet somehow Professor left out the suit claims ‘attempts to interfere with an election’. I do believe that is ‘actionable, Mr. Turley.
Shooting a gun is perfectly legal. Shooting it at someone is not. CBS will someday learn the difference.
Professor Turley writes, “Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, is believed to want to close the lawsuit to clear the way for a multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media.”
It’s called lawfare. The real reason the Democrats hate Trump is not all that “dictatorship” nonsense; when Joe Stealin was POTUS, Democrats were just fine with tyranny. The real reason is that Trump is so good at using their own playbook against them. The Democrats invented lawfare and populism with its hot rhetoric. Democrats never saw a problem when they were doing it, but now Trump is using it against them and proving better at it than they ever were…
And it galls their egotism. It enrages and deracinates them. This is the real source of TDS.
Diogenes,
Well said. We see their hate and rage here on the good professor’s blog everyday.
And we enjoy it a lot.
The correct response to this “wrongful editing”- is/was/should be -a plethora of news hour coverage from OTHER media broadcasts, during prime time, exposing CBS for its political bias and showing the edited clips.
Mission accomplished, end of story.
I think Jonathan has a point. From the standpoint of political speech voters already knew about Harris’s word salad oratory, and ignored the CBS effort to edit it out of the interview, suit or no suit. It’s even possible that public knowledge of the edit moved votes to Trump. That looks more like a benefit than a damage. I would suggest that the rest of the story has a lot to do with Adam Smith. We news consumers want better. If we show we’re finding it elsewhere online the commercial speech of ad placement dollars will follow. With this understanding: the invisible hand sets its own pace. It is not necessarily instant gratification.
I think the lawsuit is valid. CBS, as well as all the other MSM outlets clearly were showing biases and were influencing the election. The MSM needs to be held accountable for their actions, and maybe the only way to do that is to hit them where it counts, the POCKETBOKK and the BOTTOM LINE of $$$$$.
Political campaign contribution money laundered CBS
What if skamala had on dirty combat boots in the interview and after watching it the editors shined them up spiffy. Would that be okay? What if she had a big egg yoke stain on her chin and spiffed that up in editing? Big chunk of broccoli in her teeth?
They just spiffed up the interview with a dub created by someone smart. I can’t think of anyone right now but “someone” smart.
The lawsuit should be just based on election interference. That was exactly their aim.
Connect interference to a basketball rule so they they’ll grunt in understanding. Unforced error or dribbling thingy?
^^^ a foul leading to Trump getting a free throw. Maybe double dribbling and out of bounds play.
OFF TOPIC OT
In other news DJT just proposed his budget with what executive budget needs. He cut the budget by one TRILLION dollars. Exclaim it from the rooftops. It’s a first. Let him continue.
A thanks to Musk for exposing fraud, waste and ancient methods during his limited tenure. Take note the violence of the dems with car burnings, death threats prevented further good works. Note here DJT was shot. Note the violence and it’s origin.
MSM is bull chat, everything in media, you tube etc is altered bull chat and it’s all altered. Kids, there wasn’t a counter culture for boomers and before that beatnik and way back to flappers. They were outliers.
The profiles by groups take lgbt was Pete Buttigig and upgraded to secretary Bessent with husband and 2 children, Latin attempted upgrade to Rubio, women upgrade all round. It’s all bull chat. Rubio or abrego garcia?
The violence is true, the robbery, fraud, extortion, blackmail and oh BTW Bernie oligarchs have been upgraded to financial managers congealing huge masses of money from worldwide sources for investment.
Do you REALLY want to live with Ms 13 and Barrio 18? Seriously…
No one watches the Emmys, professor. People do watch the nightly news and there’s one problem. They don’t live in our neighborhoods.