The media world is still trying to sort out exactly what happened this week at one of CBS News’ most respected news properties, “60 Minutes.”
Executive producer Bill Owens abruptly quit, telling staff in a memo that he could no longer run the show the way he wanted with the autonomy he used to have.
Additional reporting about Owens’ departure seems to indicate that he believed his work — and the show itself — was compromised because of corporate politics. Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, wants the Donald Trump administration to approve a multibillion-dollar sale of her company to Skydance Media. Redstone and those at Paramount also seem eager to settle Trump’s multi-billion dollar lawsuit over claims that the network deceptively edited an interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris last October.
Owens has gone on record saying he would not apologize for any wrongdoing regarding the Harris interview in any potential settlement.
What a backdrop leading into Owens’ bombshell announcement earlier this week.
All of that said, “60 Minutes” has been putting out excellent programs that aggressively report on Trump. In fact, just two weeks ago, Trump rage-tweeted about two “60 Minutes” stories in one show almost as soon as the show concluded.
So, one could ask: how exactly is the show being compromised?
Semafor’s Max Tani has this new reporting: “Paramount owner Shari Redstone in recent days sought to know which upcoming ‘60 Minutes’ stories were about President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the situation — triggering a series of events that ended with the Tuesday resignation of the show’s longtime producer.”
Tani added, “His resignation was the culmination of months of tensions between ‘60 Minutes’ and Paramount, which has taken greater interest in oversight of CBS News.”
Another source told Tani that Owens was growing more and more uncomfortable with Paramount taking greater interest in “60 Minutes.”
Tani wrote, “A spokesperson for Redstone denied that she saw or sought to see ‘60 Minutes’ pieces, and emphasized to Semafor that Redstone and Paramount were not seeking to kill stories. But one person familiar with the situation noted that Redstone had both publicly and privately criticized ‘60 Minutes’ in recent months.”
Media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote in his Status newsletter, “There has always been tension between newsrooms and their corporate owners. But what’s happening at CBS News right now is unquestionably different. What’s striking isn’t just the depth of the discontent, but how focused it is. There’s no confusion about who staffers blame. Redstone, once a quiet and distant figure, is now viewed as an active and corrosive force, pushing a deal that could reshape the company’s future, and in the process, gutting the crown jewel of American television journalism.”
Speaking of which
The Wall Street Journal’s Jessica Toonkel, Josh Dawsey and Drew FitzGerald reported this on Thursday: “Paramount in Talks With FCC Over Diversity Policy Concessions for Merger.”
The Journal article said, “One action under discussion between the agency and Paramount is a commitment that the company continues to abstain from particular corporate diversity initiatives, the people said. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has urged telecom and media companies to limit their diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a precondition for the agency to consider mergers and acquisitions.”
The reporters added, “Carr has said that a third-party news-distortion complaint related to the way ‘60 Minutes’ edited a Kamala Harris interview last year could factor into his agency’s review of Paramount’s deal. The FCC has authority over the Paramount-Skydance deal because it would involve the transfer of broadcast television licenses held by CBS.”
However, the piece in the Journal also noted, “The thaw in communication between the company and the regulator is a small step in a complex, months-long effort to allow a merger involving a media company that has been in President Trump’s crosshairs.”
Biden, Biden, Biden
Donald Trump has many obsessions that fuel his various rages — from the “lamestream” media to “woke” Democrats to, well, anyone he doesn’t like. Just watch his social media posts for a day — heck, a couple of hours — to get an idea.
One person he just can’t give up: former President Joe Biden. Despite beating Biden in last November’s election, and despite the fact that Biden has rarely been heard from since leaving office, Trump continues to rant and rage and talk about Biden, almost always in an insulting way.
NBC News’ Peter Nicholas and Megan Shannon's analysis shows that since being inaugurated on Jan. 20, Trump has spoken about Biden, his family or the Biden administration at least 580 times in either public remarks or on social media. That’s an average of six times a day.
They added, “Trump’s White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has mentioned Biden 78 times in the 16 briefings she has given thus far, including 37 times unprompted in her opening remarks.”
By contrast, it should be noted that Biden mentioned Trump 29 times in his first 100 days — or about once every three-and-a-half days.
Even White House spokesperson Liz Huston couldn’t help herself when asked by NBC News to comment on their findings, saying, “President Trump has spent the first three months of his presidency cleaning up the disasters created by Joe Biden and Making America Great Again. Under President Trump’s leadership, the border is secure, inflation is cooling, jobs are up and common sense is restored.”
The Daily co-hosts
The New York Times was looking for a co-host to join Michael Barbaro on the outlet’s flagship podcast, “The Daily.” The Times didn’t find one. It found two.
The Times announced Thursday that Natalie Kitroeff and Rachel Abrams will join Barbaro as co-hosts of “The Daily.” They replace Sabrina Tavernise, who announced last year that she was going to leave the show to go back to reporting. Tavernise has shared hosting duties with Barbaro since March of 2022.
So now, Barbaro, Kitroeff and Abrams will rotate hosting duties of the weekday podcast.
Kitroeff has spent the past five years as an international correspondent and Mexico City bureau chief. Abrams was part of the 2018 reporting team at the Times that won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing sexual harassment and misconduct.
Barbaro said in a statement, “Each stage in the ‘Daily’s’ history has been a lesson in how much better and more creative the show can be when we expand our roster of hosts. Natalie and Rachel are the perfect journalists to take us into this new chapter. Both are fearless reporters and passionate believers in the power of audio storytelling. I can’t wait to see what the three of us can do together.”
Media news, tidbits and interesting links for your weekend review …
- My Poynter colleague Angela Fu with “A majority of Americans believe press freedom is important. Far fewer believe the press is actually free.”
- The Wall Street Journal’s Xavier Martinez with “Fearing Trump’s Visa Crackdown, College Students Race to Scrub Op-Eds.”
- The Washington Post’s Dan Diamond, Faiz Siddiqui, Trisha Thadani and Jeff Stein with “Elon Musk had the government in his grasp. Then it unraveled.”
- Also from The Washington Post: Clara Ence Morse, Cat Zakrzewski, Aaron Schaffer, Luis Melgar and Nick Mourtoupalas with “Meet the top donors to Trump’s $239 million inauguration fund.”
- The New York Times’ Sam Roberts with “Karen Durbin, 80, Dies; ‘Fearless’ Feminist Who Edited The Village Voice.”
- For The New York Times Magazine, Mitch Moxley with “They Stole a Quarter-Billion in Crypto and Got Caught Within a Month.”
- The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reports that former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III — also known as RG3 — is expected to be hired by Fox Sports as its No. 2 game analyst. Griffin was fired by ESPN last August. He will replace Brock Huard, who is stepping down to help coach his son’s high school football team. Griffin is expected to be paired with play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti.
Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].
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