'60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview at center of Trump lawsuit runs afoul of Cronkite-era CBS guidelines
The infamous "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris that sparked President Donald Trump's $20 billion "election interference" lawsuit conflicted with Walter Cronkite-era CBS News guidelines.
Cronkite, who was the face of "CBS Evening News" from 1962 to 1981, was the premier anchorman of America's golden age of network news. In 1976, at the height of Cronkite's reign as "the most trusted man in America," CBS News president Richard Salant penned a 76-page document outlining CBS News standards.
Page 58 is focused on editing and suggests the "60 Minutes" interview at the center of Trump's lawsuit against CBS News would have been frowned upon during the Cronkite era.
"The objective of the editing process is to produce a clear and succinct statement which reflects fairly, honestly and without distortion what was seen and heard by our reporters, cameras and microphones," Salant wrote in the 1976 document, which has come to the attention of the Trump legal team.
Trump's lawsuit alleges CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't "listening" to the Biden administration. Harris was criticized for the "word salad" answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on "Face the Nation."
However, when the same question aired during a primetime special on the network, she gave a different, more concise response. Critics at the time accused CBS News of editing her answer to shield the Democratic nominee from further backlash leading up to Election Day.
The raw transcript and footage released earlier this year by the FCC showed that both sets of Harris' comments came from the same lengthy response, but CBS News had aired only the first half of her response in the "Face the Nation" preview clip and aired the second half during the primetime special.
CBS News, which has denied any wrongdoing and stands by the broadcast and its reporting, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital when asked if the Cronkite-era standards have changed.
"If more than one excerpt from a speech or statement is included in a documentary broadcast, the order of their inclusion in the broadcast will be the same as the order of their inclusion in the speech or statement, unless the broadcast specifically indicates otherwise," Salant wrote in the 1976 CBS News Standards guide.
When Cronkite died in 2009 at age 92, his Associated Press obituary said the famed anchor "valued accuracy, objectivity and understated compassion" and "always aimed to be fair and professional in his judgments" regardless of personal views on a topic.
Two polls pronounced Cronkite the "most trusted man in America": a 1972 "trust index" survey in which he finished No. 1, about 15 points higher than leading politicians, and a 1974 survey in which people chose him as the most trusted television newscaster, according to the AP.
Salant, who was running CBS News when "60 Minutes" was launched, was lauded by The New York Times when he died in 1993.
"He was credited with raising professional standards and expanding news programming at CBS," the Times wrote.
CBS News, along with parent company Paramount, are currently in mediation with hopes of settling with Trump. The mediator recently proposed the network end the president's $20 billion lawsuit with a $20 million settlement, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Last month, Trump rejected Paramount's $15 million settlement offer as he sought at least a $25 million payout as well as an apology. According to the Wall Street Journal, Paramount "isn't prepared" to give one.
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