CBS Tries to Kill Story of Bias Only to Kill Its Credibility

CBS rejects the most basic journalistic standards in their attempt to defend favorably editing their 60 Minutes interview of Vice President Harris. It didn't take long for the public to notice the different clips of Kamala's answers used for promotion versus the broadcast interview. When demands to release the full transcript of the interview were made, lawyers for CBS flatly rejected transparency.

The First Amendment "fiercely protects" the editorial judgments made by "60 Minutes."

“For that reason,” CBS said, Trump has no legal basis to sue, “and I note that you do not identify one,” the letter from CBS News senior Vice President for legal affairs Gayle C. Sproul stated. “Nor is there any legal basis for your demand that we provide you with the unedited transcript of the interview, which we decline to do.”

Before I get to my main point, let's dismiss Gayle's argument. The demand isn't legal, it's ethical. The integrity of CBS is based on its ethical standards used to report the news in an unbiased and transparent manner. Moving on...

It should surprise no one that in their response, they admit to "editorial bias." But the heart of the matter is not editorial decisions, it is transparency as to their motivations. The decision to edit is in itself biased. When producing a promotional video or creating a commercial for a company, you only put forward the best takes to present your client in the most favorable light as possible.

But that is not the guiding principle of journalism.

"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations." (George Orwell).

In the case of CBS' 60 Minutes, it appears they produced a campaign ad for the Democratic Party candidate for President. Until they release the full transcript, how can we not conclude they chose public relations over printing what the Harris' campaign did not want printed?

I'll just post the most well-known example of X. One of the primary attacks against the Vice President is that she is incompetent and does not have a healthy understanding of the major issues facing the nation. Everyone knows this. CBS knew this when they sat down to interview Kamala. But what they gave us were "editorial judgments" designed to conceal her incompetence. That is not journalism.