The top producer at CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d announced Tuesday he would step down from the newsmagazine because he had lost his journalistic independence. <\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past months, it has \u2026 become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,\u201d Bill Owens said in a memo to staff members, which was obtained by NBC News. \u201cTo make independent decisions based on what was right for \u201860 Minutes,\u2019 right for the audience.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, having defended this show \u2014 and what we stand for \u2014 from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward,\u201d Owens added.\u202f <\/p>\n
Owens\u2019 departure comes during a tumultuous chapter for \u201c60 Minutes.\u201d President Donald Trump has sued CBS for $10 billion over an October interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris that the president claims was deceptively edited. The network has denied that claim. <\/p>\n
Trump amended the lawsuit earlier this year, upping his damages claim to $20 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cFormer President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated claims against \u201860 Minutes\u2019 are false,\u201d CBS News said in a statement in October. \u201cThe interview was not doctored\u201d and the show \u201cdid not hide any part of Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019s answer to the question at issue.\u201d <\/p>\n
In a separate statement, \u201c60 Minutes\u201d said it gave an excerpt from its interview with Harris to the Sunday morning program \u201cFace the Nation,\u201d which used a longer section of the former Democratic presidential candidate\u2019s answer to a question.<\/p>\n
\u201cSame question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThe portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment.\u201d <\/p>\n Trump has repeatedly lambasted the venerable newsmagazine over its reporting on him and his administration.\u202f <\/p>\n In a post on Truth Social on April 13, for example, Trump wrote: \u201cAlmost every week, 60 Minutes … mentions the name \u2018TRUMP\u2019 in a derogatory and defamatory way, but this Weekend\u2019s \u2018BROADCAST\u2019 tops them all.\u201d He appeared to take issue with segments about the war in Ukraine and his interest in acquiring Greenland. <\/p>\n Trump added that he believed CBS should lose its broadcast license and \u201cpay a big price.\u201d He said he hoped Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr would \u201cimpose the maximum fines and punishment.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n Owens\u2019 exit, first reported by The New York Times, also comes at a pivotal moment for CBS\u2019 parent company, Paramount. Shari Redstone, Paramount\u2019s controlling shareholder, reportedly needs the Trump administration to approve her media conglomerate\u2019s sale to Skydance Media, a production and finance company run by David Ellison, the son of tech mogul Larry Ellison. <\/p>\n The New York Times reported in late January that Paramount was in settlement talks with Trump. The Times later reported that Owens told staff members he would not apologize for the Harris interview as part of any prospective settlement. NBC News has not independently verified either report. <\/p>\n In his memo to staff, Owens said \u201c60 Minutes\u201d would \u201ccontinue to cover the new administration, as we will report on future administrations. We will report from war zones, investigate injustices and educate our audience. In short, \u201860 Minutes\u2019 will do what it has done for 57 years.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThank you all, remain focused on the moment, our audience deserves it,\u201d Owens said in closing. <\/p>\n Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News, notified company employees by email that Owens would be leaving and touted his work at the company.<\/p>\n \u201cTom and I are committed to 60 Minutes and to ensuring that the mission and the work remain our priority,\u201d McMahon said, referring to CBS News president and executive editor Tom Cibrowski. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The top producer at CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d announced Tuesday he would step down from the newsmagazine because he had lost his journalistic independence. \u201cOver the past months, it has \u2026 become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,\u201d Bill Owens said in a memo to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetradingdictionary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}