Latest news with #Murrow
The Hill
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Paramount sells out CBS, First Amendment in settlement to Trump
Legendary CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow lambasted his own industry in a 1958 presentation that has famously been labeled the 'Wires and Lights in a Box' speech. Presciently, he warned the broadcast journalists of the Radio Television News Directors Association about the dangers of letting corporate and special interests get in the way of solid reporting. Murrow exhorted his colleagues to present the news 'fairly and calmly,' even on controversial topics, saying the public appreciates such efforts to 'illuminate rather than agitate.' Failure to execute this important responsibility of journalism, Murrow warned, relegates broadcasting to 'wires and lights in a box.' How sad it is today to see CBS, the news organization Murrow helped mold, so diminished that it would cave to political pressure and pay $16 million to settle a nuisance lawsuit. CBS's once-proud '60 Minutes' bungled its interview last fall with presidential candidate Kamala Harris, engaging in questionable editing practices and then sandbagging when asked to explain what happened. As could be expected, Donald Trump filed a $20 billion lawsuit claiming election interference in favor of his political opponent. The money will be paid by Paramount, the parent company of CBS. The settlement was cleverly announced by CBS News just before the Fourth of July holiday, a move clearly designed to hide the surrender from Americans who were traveling, cooking hotdogs and watching fireworks. The announcement made a point to indicate that CBS made no apology as part of the settlement. So, apparently, CBS just randomly hands over millions of dollars when it has done nothing wrong. CBS also claimed in the announcement that 'the lawsuit was completely without merit.' CBS is quite right in that contention; journalists have broad First Amendment protections when it comes to broadcasting and editing interviews. There is virtually no chance Trump could have won this case in court. But CBS caved anyway. One reason for the surrender might be that Paramount wants to clear the decks and calm things down with the Trump administration before the Federal Communications Commission rules on a proposed $8.4 billion media merger between Paramount and Skydance Media. Another reason could be that CBS just didn't want to risk whatever skeletons might fall out of the closet should the lawsuit get to more formal proceedings. Neither of these explanations excuse a major news organization from standing up for its free press rights. Even though CBS has settled this legal hassle with Trump, the network still faces an FCC inquiry about its management, or lack thereof, of the Harris '60 Minutes' segment. It will look awkward for CBS now to go in front of the FCC acting righteous after wiping the egg off its face from the $16 million settlement. The CBS-Paramount payout to Trump is chump change by the standards of big media corporations. But the size of the payout is irrelevant. That CBS would sell its First Amendment rights for any amount of money is humiliating. Employees of CBS News are understandably outraged by the corporation's legal surrender. But these reporters and editors should also be concerned about the activist journalism culture they themselves have helped create. The AllSides Media Bias Chart lists CBS News as left of center. The First Amendment allows for biased and even unprofessional journalism, but some introspection at CBS might be helpful to see if the network is living up to the standards established years ago by Murrow. There was a time when CBS would fight the establishment over its journalistic rights. In 1972, CBS President Frank Stanton stared down a congressional committee, refusing to discuss or provide materials about the CBS telecast 'Selling of the Pentagon,' other than what was actually aired. He stood on First Amendment grounds, saying any government intervention would ruin investigative journalism. There was also a time when CBS produced news to support an informed citizenry, not just to cash checks. Long-time CBS Chairman William Paley met with news personnel in the early 1960s, exhorting them with his ambitious news coverage plans. When Paley was asked by veteran correspondent Charles Collingwood how the network would pay for such news operations, he replied, 'You guys cover the news: I've got Jack Benny to make money for me.' There's a reason why the network of Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid was for years known as one of the media's most enduring brands, often referred to as the Tiffany Network. CBS is crumbling before the nation's eyes. A media brand that won't stand on principle will always be suspect, even if big mergers eventually get approved.
Boston Globe
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
What would Edward R. Murrow think of CBS parent company caving in to Donald Trump?
You can chalk up a lot of its popularity to its star, George Clooney, who plays the legendary newsman and who wrote the play with Grant Heslov, based on But no doubt some measure of the success of the play is also rooted in its relevance and resonance today. Advertisement Murrow enhanced his credibility, and that of CBS, and showcased journalistic and personal courage by exposing McCarthy's anti-communist witch hunt as a reckless abuse of civil liberties and civility. Murrow wouldn't back down in the face of McCarthy's threats or pressure from his corporate bosses after the loss of a major network sponsor. Given all this, one has to wonder what Murrow would make of the decision by Paramount, CBS' parent company, to Advertisement Trump's lawyer had claimed Trump suffered 'mental anguish' from a '60 Minutes' interview last October of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential election. Trump and his lawyers maintained the editing of the interview made Harris appear more coherent and intelligent than she really is, that it amounted to false advertising, or deceptive trade practices. Trump attorney Edward Andrew Paltzik said that beyond the mental anguish the interview caused Trump, it misled voters and led them to pay less attention to him and his regular assertions on Truth Social. How Counselor Paltzik would prove this in a court of law where there are, unlike on Truth Social, rules of evidence would have made for some entertaining lawyering. Alas, we'll never know. While CBS and Paramount initially came out swinging, insisting Trump's case was entirely without merit, the beancounters had the final say, as they are wont to do. Paramount caving isn't very surprising, if still very depressing. Paramount chair and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone had made it clear she favored a settlement. Surely, her position had nothing to do with the fact that the Meeting with shareholders Wednesday, George Cheeks, Paramount's co-CEO, Somehow, Mr. Cheeks did not find the time to mention the word principle. My only surprise is that he didn't try to suggest the capitulation constituted a bargain, given that Advertisement In a statement announcing the settlement, Paramount executives went to great length to portray their actions as somehow not amounting to a capitulation, pointing out that, aside from paying Trump's legal fees, the $16 million goes not to Trump but the fund to build his presidential library. Oh, and they were not required to apologize to Trump. They might want to apologize to Murrow's memory and current 60 Minutes correspondents and viewers. In May, those CBS is hardly the only media giant to turtle in its shell rather than stand up to a bully. Last year, ABC's parent company, Disney, agreed to donate $15 million to Trump's presidential library rather than go to trial after Trump sued them for defamation. Trump's claim was based on the fact that ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos had said on air that Trump had been found liable for rape when he was actually found liable for sexual abuse. At the time, media law experts had warned that Disney's capitulation to Trump would embolden him and others to file dubious lawsuits against media companies that would rather settle than go all the way to trial. One month later, So, if you're keeping score at home, Trump has taken $56 million off craven media companies who don't have the guts to take him on in court. He'd be a fool to not keep suing. Advertisement US Senator Elizabeth Warren has likened these payoffs to bribes. She wants US Senator Ed Markey called Paramount's settlement 'a blow to journalistic independence.' US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont didn't pull any punches. 'It is a dark day for independent journalism and freedom of the press, an essential part of our democracy,' Sanders said. 'It is a victory for a president who is attempting to stifle dissent and undermine American democracy.' Congress can investigate all it wants. Nothing will change until the big media companies care more about their audiences than their shareholders. Meaning nothing will change. All this on the eve of July 4th, when we celebrate our country's independence, an independence that was underwritten by a free press which today is demonstrably less free that it was just a year ago. Good night, and good luck. Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vaughn Hillyard To Join MSNBC As Network Taps Additional Correspondents In Advance Of Split From Comcast
Vaughn Hillyard will join MSNBC as senior White House correspondent, as the network has hired a group of journalists for its team in advance of its split from Comcast and sister network NBC News. Hillyard has been an NBC News White House correspondent but has contributed to MSNBC. More from Deadline Senate Strikes AI Moratorium From Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" Donald Trump Talks Of Deporting Elon Musk And Unleashing DOGE On Him: "We'll Have To Take A Look" Senator Backs Away From Compromise Over AI Moratorium In Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" - Update Also joining MSNBC will be Laura Barrón-López as White House correspondent, David Noriega as MSNBC correspondent, and Marc Santia as an investigative correspondent. The split, expected to be completed later this year, has left questions of who will go where. Figures like Andrea Mitchell and José Díaz-Balart are staying with NBC News, while figures like Ken Dilanian and Antonia Hylton are landing at MSNBC. MSNBC will be part of Versant, the newly branded entity of cable networks and other media properties formerly owned by Comcast. With NBC News no longer a sister network, MSNBC is building up its own news division. Hillyard has covered three presidential elections for the network, and landed interviews with figures like Steve Bannon, just before he served a four-month prison sentence. Hillyard also interviewed Vice President Mike Pence in 2018 following the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, among other high profile assignments. Barrón-López was White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour and a CNN political analyst. She also covered the Biden administration for Politico, and was part of the PBS team that won a Peabody for coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Noriega will be based in Los Angeles. He was a national correspondent for NBC News and reported across the country and international on issues including migration. He received an Edward R. Murrow Award for his reporting from Mexico. Santia was a reporter on criminal justice, security issues and investigations for NBC4 in New York since 2012. He's covered national stories, including mass shootings and natural disasters, and won a regional Murrow award for a story on a former United Airlines flight attendant who honored friends and coworkers lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Best of Deadline 'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg Everything We Know About 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Good Night, and Good Luck: Live Broadcast of Broadway Play Delivers CNN's 2nd-Biggest Night of 2025
'Twas a good night, indeed. CNN's live broadcast of the George Clooney-led Broadway play Good Night, and Good Luck on Saturday night reached 7.34 million global viewers, including streaming audiences on Max and More from TVLine Andor Tops Nielsen Streaming Chart With Release of Series Finale; Rogue One Returns to Top 10 Movies Ratings: Tony Awards Surge 38% to Biggest Audience Since 2019 Yes, George Clooney Has Seen The Pitt - Here's What the ER Vet Had to Say About Noah Wyle's New Medical Show The Stateside share of that audience tallied 5.64 million people, with an additional 1.7 million tuning in internationally. On CNN alone, Good Night, and Good Luck drew north of 2 million total viewers, fueling a No. 1 ranking across all of cable for the day, and leading the newser to its second-highest Prime (7 pm-11 pm) delivery of the year in total viewers — trailing only President Trump's address to Congress on March 4. TVLine readers gave the telecast an average grade of 'A.' Good Night, and Good Luck gave CNN its third-biggest event of 2025 on the Max platform, viewing peaked at 8:33 pm (during the closing monologue of the performance, suggesting sustained tune-in). Of note, 155,000 total people attended Good Night, and Good Luck performances throughout its nine-week Broadway run. Good Night, and Good Luck on CNN: The Broadcast's Most Notable Moments View List Based on the 2005 film of the same name, Good Night, and Good Luck — which wrapped its Broadway run on Sunday — starred ER alum Clooney as legendary CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow. The true story takes place in the 1950s, as Murrow came under fire for criticizing Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who levied unsubstantiated charges of communism at various Americans during the Cold War. The 100-minute production ran without intermission, as it has since it opened at New York's Winter Garden Theatre on April 3. Clooney directed the 2005 film, in which he played Murrow's producer, Fred Friendly. In the Broadway show, Friendly is played by Glenn Fleshler (True Detective). Clooney and Grant Heslov wrote both the movie and the play. The play's cast also includes Clark Gregg (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Ilana Glazer (Broad City), Carter Hudson, Paul Gross, Christopher Denham, Fran Kraz, Mac Brandt, Will Dagger and Georgia Heers. The production is nominated for five Tony Awards, including Clooney for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play. Note: Though the CNN-provided photos below are black-and-white, the broadcast was in color.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Opinion - What happened to Terry Moran: Echos of Edward R. Murrow
You seldom see anything really new on television. But this weekend proved an exception. For the first time ever, we saw the live performance of a Broadway play: CNN's broadcast of the hit Broadway show 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' starring George Clooney. It was an entertainment triumph. The acting was superb. The story was compelling. The staging was excellent. There were no commercial breaks. And the play's powerful message could not have been more timely. Indeed, the story of how legendary CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow took on the phony anti-communist campaign of Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.) is an ominous foretelling of what we are witnessing today. Murrow exposed the lack of evidence behind McCarthy's attacks on alleged communists in the State Department. McCarthy fought back, accusing Murrow himself of being a communist sympathizer. And CBS folded, demoting Murrow from prime-time Tuesday night to low-rated Sunday afternoon. Sound familiar? In fact, the very next day, Murrow's experience from the 1950s played out again in real time. In a personal tweet, ABC News senior national correspondent Terry Moran called President Trump and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller 'world-class haters.' The White House protested. And ABC folded, suspending Moran indefinitely. Now, one could argue that Moran has earned his reputation as one of America's best journalists. In April, President Trump even chose Moran for his first second-term Oval Office interview. One could also argue that their anti-immigrant rhetoric in the first and second Trump terms qualify Trump and Miller as 'world-class haters.' But that's an argument for another day. The important point for today is: This latest media blow-up over Terry Moran should worry anybody who believes in how important a free media is to our democracy. Because it proves once again how incredibly thin-skinned are members of the Trump administration, starting with the president himself — and how shamefully spineless are the CEOs of the nation's media companies. This, of course, is not the first time ABC folded. In December 2024, it paid Trump $15 million rather than fight a defamation lawsuit many legal scholars said ABC could easily have won. Other media chiefs have been equally spineless. Jeff Bezos of the Washington Post and Patrick Soon-Shiong of the Los Angeles Times killed editorials endorsing Kamala Harris. Meta's Mark Zuckerberg paid Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit and tossed in another $1 million for Trump's inauguration fund. Paramount Global, CBS's parent company, is reportedly considering settling a baseless Trump lawsuit challenging how '60 Minutes' edited its interview with Kamala Harris in October 2024. The collective, corporate caving-in to Donald Trump is disgusting. Especially in light of the fact that Trump has only intensified his own attacks on the media, to which he still applies the Stalinesque label 'enemy of the American people.' During his first term, Trump lobbed personal attacks against many White House reporters. He called then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta 'a rude, terrible person' and temporarily suspended him from the press corps. He viciously attacked NBC's Peter Alexander, calling him a 'terrible reporter' for asking a 'nasty question.' He singled out three African-American female reporters for contempt, accusing CNN's Abby Phillip of asking 'a stupid question,' describing then-Urban Radio Network's April Ryan as 'a loser,' and calling NPR's Yamiche Alcindor a 'racist.' He dismissed NBC's Katy Tur as a 'third-rate reporter,' and ridiculed the New York Times's Maggie Haberman as a 'Crooked H flunkie.' Trump Two has brought more of the same. The White House has exiled Associated Press for refusing to adopt the 'Gulf of America.' Some outlets have been banned from the press pool. The president routinely asks reporters whom they work for before answering, or belittling, their questions. He has targeted for personal abuse the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, ABC's Rachel Scott, and even Fox News's Jacqui Heinrich, whom he called 'absolutely terrible.' But what happened to Terry Moran proves that media criticism is a one-way street. The president and his aides can level the most vicious personal attacks against reporters, but if any reporter dares fire back, he or she could well be fired for telling the truth. Edward R. Murrow summed up the difficulties he faced at CBS in attempting to reporting the facts about McCarthy in this chilling phrase: 'The terror is in this room.' The same could be said of many newsrooms today. Under such unrelenting attacks, it makes you wonder whether a free and independent media can even survive. Good night, and good luck. Bill Press is host of 'The Bill Press Pod.' He is the author of 'From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
