A formal complaint has been lodged with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by the Center for American Rights (CAR), a conservative watchdog group.
The complaint alleges that CBS, a major television network, manipulated an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on "60 Minutes" by airing edited responses.
According to the New York Post, the CAR, a nonprofit law firm, has demanded that the FCC instruct WCBS-TV, CBS's New York City station, to release the full, unedited transcript of the "60 Minutes" interview. The complaint is not merely about a single interview or network, but rather it raises concerns about the public's trust in the media, particularly on matters of national security and international relations, during a critical election period.
CAR president Daniel Suhr stated, This is about the publics trust in the media on critical issues of national security and international relations during one of the most consequential elections of our time. When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act swiftly to restore public confidence in our news media.
CBS, also known as the Tiffany Network, has been under fire for broadcasting an edited version of Harris' response to a question about US-Israel relations on October 7. This came after airing her less coherent reply to the same question during a promo for an upcoming special on CBS' "Face the Nation" the previous day.
In the edited version aired on "60 Minutes", Harris was quoted saying, We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end. However, her original response on "Face the Nation" was less succinct: Well, Bill the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.
CBS defended the editing, claiming it was done due to time constraints. However, Suhr dismissed this justification, stating in the filing, CBS crosses a line when its production reaches the point of so transforming an interviewees answer that it is a fundamentally different answer.
The FCC's policy stipulates that news distortion must involve a significant event and not merely a minor or incidental aspect of the news report to be considered a violation. CAR argues that CBS's editing of Harris' interview meets these violation criteria, given the importance of the question about US foreign policy towards the Middle East during a war, and the timing of the interview weeks before a presidential election.
The Center for American Rights, founded last year by Suhr and fellow attorney Pat Hughes, aims to advance free speech, free enterprise, and parental freedom in education through strategic, precedent-setting litigation. Hughes and Suhr are currently representing some Columbia University students in a lawsuit against anti-Israel demonstrators who organized the schools pro-Palestinian encampments.
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