{"id":38092,"date":"2025-07-02T12:58:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T12:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?p=38092"},"modified":"2025-11-22T21:17:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T21:17:33","slug":"public-knowledge-condemns-cbs-60-minutes-settlement-with-president-trump-as-attack-on-press-freedoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-condemns-cbs-60-minutes-settlement-with-president-trump-as-attack-on-press-freedoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Knowledge Condemns CBS 60 Minutes Settlement with President Trump as Attack on Press Freedoms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today, Paramount Global, which owns CBS News, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-media-harris-minutes-paramount-6415042fe910ae60b432dd8c73ef61b2\">announced<\/a> it will pay $16 million to President Trump\u2019s library fund to settle his lawsuit over the editing of a &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The settlement also requires CBS to publicly release transcripts of future interviews with presidential candidates but includes no requirement for a public apology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The timing of this settlement is particularly concerning given Paramount Global&#8217;s pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, which requires Federal Communications Commission approval to proceed. Separately, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is considering a nonsensical complaint alleging CBS&#8217;s editing constituted &#8220;news distortion&#8221; and has opened the matter for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/ecfs\/search\/search-filings\/results?q=(proceedings.name:(%2225-73*%22))\">public comment<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Public Knowledge contends that this lawsuit marks another example of President Trump weaponizing his immense influence to silence the free press \u2013 at the expense of our First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following can be attributed to Morgan Wilsmann, Policy Analyst at Public Knowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn his capacity as a private citizen, President Donald Trump claims he is owed $20 billion dollars in damages because CBS News allegedly misled viewers by airing a promotional clip of former Vice President Harris that differed from what appeared in the full broadcast interview \u2013 which apparently caused the president mental anguish. As we explained in our <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/policy\/comment-on-cbs-news-distortion-complaint\/\">comment submitted in the FCC\u2019s news distortion docket<\/a>, 60 Minutes\u2019 treatment of Kamala Harris\u2019 interview constituted routine editorial discretion, which is protected by the First Amendment and reaffirmed countless times in case law. President Trump\u2019s lawsuit was meritless.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump is aware that CBS\u2019s parent company, Paramount Global, is eager to secure approval for its $8 billion merger from the FCC. It seems clear that Paramount prefers to settle and push the merger ahead rather than face a lengthy lawsuit, which would ultimately be overseen by a Trump-appointed, sympathetic judge in Texas. By legitimizing this extortionate lawsuit, CBS has effectively warned all broadcasters that providing a platform to President Trump&#8217;s critics comes with potentially devastating financial consequences. This represents a dark moment for press freedom and the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, Paramount Global, which owns CBS News, announced it will pay $16 million to President Trump\u2019s library fund to settle his lawsuit over the editing of a &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The settlement also requires CBS to publicly release transcripts of future interviews with presidential candidates but includes no requirement for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11,31],"class_list":["post-38092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-content-moderation","tag-free-expression"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public Knowledge Condemns CBS 60 Minutes Settlement with President Trump as Attack on Press Freedoms - Public Knowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-condemns-cbs-60-minutes-settlement-with-president-trump-as-attack-on-press-freedoms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Public Knowledge Condemns CBS 60 Minutes Settlement with President Trump as Attack on Press Freedoms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. 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