One of the most storied institutions in American journalism, ’60 Minutes,’ has endured its most turbulent period in its 57-year history, despite its enduring popularity with viewers. The Sunday magazine show continues to draw significant audiences on broadcast television, which is why the $20 billion lawsuit against CBS News and its parent company, Paramount Global, was of such high stakes. The legal battle, initiated by former President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 election, stemmed from his allegations of election interference regarding the handling of an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump accused CBS of aiding Harris’s campaign through the deceptive editing of an exchange she had with ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Bill Whitaker, where Whitaker pressed her on why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t listening to the Biden administration. Critics noted that two different responses to the same question were aired; one in a preview clip on ‘Face the Nation,’ which received widespread criticism for Harris’s ‘word salad,’ and the second during the primetime election special where she provided a more succinct answer. Raw transcripts and footage, released by the FCC, revealed that the first half of her answer had aired on ‘Face the Nation,’ while the second half was broadcast on ’60 Minutes,’ thus contradicting Trump’s claims that the network had altered the content entirely.
Despite the company’s assertion that the lawsuit was ‘without basis in law and fact’ and an affront to the First Amendment, Paramount settled with Trump to facilitate its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, which received FCC approval earlier this month. The settlement included a $16 million payment to Trump’s presidential library, with another sum allocated for conservative advocacy and public service announcements. The ’60 Minutes’ staff, though reportedly ‘psychologically and mentally worn down’ by the turmoil, has not seen mass resignations, even as concerns persist over the editorial direction under new ownership.
Following the resolution of the legal dispute, CBS News announced that Tanya Simon would become the new executive producer of ’60 Minutes’ after serving on an interim basis following the resignation of Bill Owens, who claimed he could no longer maintain editorial independence under the pressures of the Trump administration. However, fears remain that the new owners, particularly after the Paramount-Skydance merger is finalized on August 7, could exert undue influence over editorial decisions, particularly given the potential oversight mechanisms, such as an ombudsman, that Skydance promised to the FCC to monitor CBS News content.
The producer of ’60 Minutes’ acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the future of the show, stating that the staff feels ‘nobody really knows what’s going on’ and that the editorial direction is still unclear. The producers, however, remain cautiously optimistic about the show’s future, especially with the appointment of Simon, who enjoys broad support from the staff, as the new executive producer. The upcoming return to the office in August is expected to bring renewed energy, though the lingering concerns about corporate influence over editorial decisions are expected to persist.