Critics blasted Paramount World’s resolution to pay $16 million to settle President Trump’s lawsuit over “60 Minutes” edits, calling the transfer a “spineless capitulation” that erodes U.S. press freedoms.
Paramount’s leaders hope the settlement will assist clear a path for Trump-appointed regulators to bless the corporate’s $8-billion sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media. They wished to tamp down tensions with the president.
“This is a shameful decision by Paramount,” Clayton Weimers, govt director of Reporters With out Borders USA, mentioned in an announcement. “Shari Redstone and Paramount’s board should have stood by CBS journalists and the integrity of press freedom. Instead, they chose to reward Donald Trump for his petty legal assault.”
Bob Corn-Revere, chief counsel for the non-profit 1st Modification advocacy group Basis for Particular person Rights and Expression, took an opposing view, saying wider repercussions would outcome.
Federal Communications Commissioner Anna M. Gomez, the lone Democrat on the panel, mentioned the settlement was “a desperate move [by Paramount] to appease the Administration and secure regulatory approval of a major transaction currently pending before the FCC.”
“This moment marks a dangerous precedent for the 1st Amendment, and it should alarm anyone who values a free and independent press,” Gomez mentioned.
Journalists have been horrified by the board’s willingness to settle the case reasonably than defend 1st Modification freedoms.
The authorized wrangling started in October when CBS broadcast totally different parts of a solution given by then-Vice President Kamala Harris to a query in regards to the Biden administration’s waning clout with Israel’s prime minister.
CBS’ “Face the Nation” program ran a clip of Harris giving a muddled response to the query. A day later, “60 Minutes” aired a special portion of her reply. This one was forceful and succinct.
CBS has acknowledged enhancing Harris’ reply.
Trump and fellow conservatives seized on the edits, claiming CBS had manipulated Harris’ reply to make her seem extra authoritative to reinforce her standing with voters. He referred to as the edits an instance of election interference.
Trump and fellow conservatives seized on CBS’ edits to Harris’ reply, calling them an instance of election interference.
(Kevin Dietsch / Getty Pictures)
CBS has lengthy denied such claims.
Paramount Co-Chief Govt George Cheeks mentioned in the course of the firm’s shareholder assembly Wednesday that settlements are designed for firms to keep away from “being mired in uncertainty and distraction.”
“Companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable costs of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgment that could result in significant financial or reputational damage, and the disruption to business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause,” Cheeks mentioned.
That rationale did little to mollify detractors who alleged that Trump’s complaints have been skinny.
Vice President Kamala Harris talks to “60 Minutes” correspondent Invoice Whitaker.
(CBS Information)
Paramount’s settlement “will be remembered as one of the most shameful capitulations by the press to a president in history,” mentioned Seth Stern, director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Basis.
Paramount mentioned the settlement with Trump included a launch from threatened defamation claims.
But it surely’s not clear that Paramount’s complications will go away.
Three left-leaning U.S. Senators — Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wish to take a more in-depth have a look at Paramount’s decision-making.
In Could, the senators despatched a strongly worded letter to Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Redstone. They cautioned {that a} settlement could possibly be considered as bribing an elected official to win favorable regulatory therapy with regard to the Skydance merger.
“This could be bribery in plain sight,” Warren mentioned in an announcement Wednesday. “I’m calling for a full investigation into whether or not any anti-bribery laws were broken.”
“When Democrats retake power, I’ll be first in line calling for federal charges,” Wyden individually wrote in a submit on the Bluesky social media web site. “In the meantime, state prosecutors should make the corporate execs who sold out our democracy answer in court.”
“The danger is clear,” Richardson mentioned, calling the settlement a “spineless capitulation.”
“Emboldened politicians and powerful actors will feel more free than ever to weaponize lawsuits and bring regulatory pressure to bear to silence and censor independent journalism.”
