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Is “60 Minutes” On Borrowed Time?
CBS’s corporate owner’s larger business interests have put TV’s iconic news magazine in a bind
Paramount, the giant, international entertainment corporation, should be telling President Donald Trump to go sit on a doorknob, but it hasn’t yet and it almost certainly won’t.
Paramount is trying to complete an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, a deal that requires approval by the Federal Communications Commission. FCC chairman Brenden Carr is a Trump appointee and, it almost goes without saying, a Trump enforcer. He can kill the merger, so Paramount is doing its best to curry favor.
Which is bad news for the CBS Television Network, CBS News and the news division’s most esteemed production, 60 Minutes, now in its 57th season.
CBS is one of Paramount’s many properties. Trump is suing the network and 60 Minutes for an insane amount, $20 billion, claiming that the magazine tried to improve Vice President Kamala Harris’s chances by editing a pre-election interview to make her appear more “coherent.”
Never mind that Trump turned down his invitation to be interviewed for the same broadcast, not wanting to be asked questions he would consider unfriendly. He’s claiming 60 Minutes engaged in election interference and must be…
