© CBSCBS President Wendy McMahon and "60 Minutes" executive producer Bill Owens have both resigned from CBS.
The resignation this week of CBS President Wendy McMahon came just weeks after that of 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens.
The back-to-back resignations served as the latest sign that a brooding crisis for one of the country's largest and oldest broadcast news networks is reaching an inflection point.
Though they did not mention Trump's lawsuit explicitly as they announced plans to leave, McMahon and Owens made clear they were convinced they could no longer independently lead CBS, which has come under increased legal and regulatory threat from Trump's administration.
"In some ways, it feels like Trump has already won this fight," one Republican political operative told The Hill this week. "He wants to be covered positively by all of these networks, and this is a pretty clear sign his plan to intimidate is working."
Comment: Since when is it intimidation to demand that a news network cover stories accurately, instead of prevaricating in favor one political party over another?
Trump sued CBS News and 60 Minutes last fall over an interview the program aired with former Vice President Kamala Harris just days before she faced off with Trump in the November election.
As part of his $10 billion suit, the president's attorneys argued producers for the program intentionally edited portions of the interview with Harris to cast her in a more positive, coherent light.
Comment: Watch for yourself:
CBS released a full transcript of the interview weeks later after a pressure campaign from Trump and his allies defending their editing and calling the suit "without merit."
Paramount has indicated in public statements and legal filings it is prepared to defend itself from the president's claims in court despite widespread rumors of a settlement.
Complicating matters for the massive media conglomerate, however, is pending business the company has before the Trump administration.
Paramount, which has taken massive Wall Street losses on linear broadcast assets in recent quarters, is working to secure a mega-merger with fellow entertainment giant Skydance.
The Paramount/Skydance deal is a transaction worth nearly $30 billion that will need approval from federal regulators who report to Trump.
After Owens left, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley took the extraordinary step of alluding to the proposed merger on air and told the program's viewers the following Sunday that Paramount had begun to "supervise" their coverage of the administration "in new ways."
Shari Redstone, the longtime chair of Paramount and an executive who stands to make tens of millions of dollars personally on the Skydance deal, has been unhappy for weeks with CBS's coverage of the administration and other issues, The New York Times reported earlier this month.
Inside CBS News, there has been a growing sense of dread and frustration that a settlement with Trump could be coming, at what many observers see as the expense of 60 Minutes, the network's premier news program.
Several staffers at the network declined to speak with The Hill on the record about the situation, though several reports have emerged in recent days laying out frustration at the network over the saga.
The resignation of McMahon and Owens are seen as important, too, in sending a signal.
"People in high positions in media have a unique ability to take a moral stand more than your average everyday journalist," said Ben Bogardus, an associate professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University. "Other CBS journalists could follow them, if they feel the pressure to cover news a certain way isn't pulled back by CBS executives."
A spokesperson for Paramount told The Hill on Wednesday the Trump lawsuit "is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process."
"We will abide by the legal process to defend our case," the spokesperson said.
The two sides began mediation talks this month, with at least one report suggesting a potential settlement could reach upwards of $50 million and include a formal apology.
Meanwhile, Paramount's apparent nudging toward an out-of-court agreement with the president is gaining attention on Capitol Hill.
A trio of senators wrote a letter to Redstone this week expressing "serious concern" about the possibility her media company "may be engaging in improper conduct involving the Trump administration."
"Under the federal bribery statute, it is illegal to corruptly give anything of value to public officials to influence an official act," the Democratic lawmakers wrote. "If Paramount officials make these concessions in a quid pro quo arrangement to influence President Trump or other Administration officials, they may be breaking the law."
Others argue even such an explicit agreement to drop the suit in exchange for regulatory relief poses business risks for Redstone and her shareholders.
"What about Trump suggests he negotiates in good faith," said Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to former President Obama and Democratic aide.
CBS is one of several major news networks Trump has threatened with lawsuits and urged his FCC to investigate over coverage that he feels is not favorable enough of him.
Comment: For "not favorable" read "reporting lies about him":
Full text: Top 50 Lies They Told About Trump
(And they wonder why no one trusts them.)
1.Trump colluded with Russia.
2.The Steele Dossier was credible.
3.Trump called neo-Nazis "very fine people."
4.He suggested injecting bleach.
5.He called COVID a "hoax."
6.He banned Muslims.
7.He mocked a disabled reporter.
8.He removed the MLK bust.
9.He tear-gassed peaceful protesters for a photo op.
10.He built cages for kids (Obama did).
11.He paid $0 in taxes (debunked).
12.He called veterans "suckers and losers."
13.He told people to drink aquarium cleaner.
14.He wanted to nuke hurricanes.
15.He said white supremacists were "his base."
16.He ignored Russian bounties (Intel denied it).
17.He caused the COVID deaths (Dem governors sent infected to nursing homes).
18.He tried to destroy the USPS.
19.He was "installed" by Putin.
20.He was going to cancel the 2020 election.
21.He praised Nazis in Poland.
22.He threatened to become a dictator.
23.He gave classified info to Russia (debunked).
24.He called all Mexicans "rapists."
25.He wanted to stop hurricane relief to blue states.
26.He called immigrants "animals" (he said MS-13).
27.He tried to buy Greenland (satirical story spun as fact).
28.He caused the George Floyd riots.
29.He wouldn't leave the White House (he left).
30.He led an "armed insurrection" (no arms recovered).
31.He plotted Jan 6 with Proud Boys (no evidence).
32.He orchestrated fake electors (state GOPs did it).
33.He threatened GA election officials (full call disproves it).
34.He used the DOJ to spy on Democrats (that was Obama).
35.He wanted to ban TikTok for racist reasons.
36.He caused anti-Asian hate (media blamed "China virus" after him).
37.He wanted to start WW3.
38.He praised Putin's invasion (he said it was "smart," not "good").
39.He made fun of McCain's death (context twisted).
40.He called Haiti a "shithole" (closed-door meeting, denied).
41.He planned to shoot protesters (fake DOJ leak).
42.He said COVID would disappear "like magic" (meant seasonally).
43.He sold secrets at Mar-a-Lago (no evidence).
44.He ripped babies from mothers' arms (Obama-era photo).
45.He wanted to end Social Security (he proposed payroll tax deferral).
46.He built a wall that "fell over" (media exaggerated 1 section).
47.He wanted to cancel Thanksgiving.
48.He ignored Puerto Rico after hurricanes (he sent aid faster than Obama).
49.He stole documents to sell them (absurd, no evidence).
50.He's a "threat to democracy" — because he tells the truth they're afraid of
Brendan Carr, Trump's FCC chair, has signaled he views the Harris 60 Minutes interview as grounds for a legitimate "news distortion" complaint.
"Something that Trump understands is the media outlets he hates have larger corporate structures that he can appeal to which are not terribly interested in journalism," said Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America, the left-leaning press watchdog and think tank. "In this case, he's wielding the power of the federal government to get that corporate ownership structure to work to his benefit."
CBS is not the first network to find itself in Trump's legal crosshairs since he won reelection.
In December, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million and issued an apology for a broadcast during which anchor George Stephanopoulos falsely claimed Trump had been convicted of rape.
CBS has been through its fair share of controversies in recent years, from the firings of top executives and journalists like Les Moonves and Charlie Rose over sexual misconduct allegations, to the resignation of anchors like Lara Logan and Sharyl Attkisson who accused the network of liberal bias.
"I think Trump's team really senses it's been rough at CBS, and all of these networks, for a while now," the Republican operative added. "If this goes where it looks like it's headed, it could really be one of the final nails in the coffin.
Reader Comments
Quote: " People in high positions in media have a unique ability to take a moral stand more than your average everyday journalist ". What does that mean? The "highly moral" 60 Minutes is allowed to fabricate the intelligence and articulateness of a candidate for the Presidency, i.e. lie.
This should not be surprising, as they did not question the actor Biden or his stupidity for the last 4 years.
These resignations make me suspect that Trump does indeed have evidence of internal discussion, in which case CBS will seek to settle out of court and be forced to issue a public mea culpa. We'll see. Trump will likely seek to drag them through the mud as much as possible.
I remember in the 70s when the 60 Minutes crew seemed more interested in good journalism than manipulative propaganda. Maybe it wasn't as credible as my younger self thought it was, but I did enjoy the format and the people.