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CBS in distress

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Sometimes the arguments could be heard well down the hall.

The topic was “60 Minutes,” and the tension was audible. CBS News chief Wendy McMahon was clashing with her bosses over upcoming stories on the famed program — in part because President Trump’s legally dubious lawsuit against CBS meant that billions of dollars were at risk.

“Wendy was standing up for us,” a veteran CBS journalist said. “There’s a lot of fear about what happens with her gone now.”

McMahon stepped down yesterday, under pressure from CBS parent Paramount Global, intensifying the impression that CBS News is in distress due to Trump’s political pressure and other business factors.

Related Knowledge Center: The White House vs. the press

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Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.

Democracy and politics | Signalgate | The CBS submission | Voiceless America


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The First Amendment is facing challenging times: Crackdowns on campus protests prompted both-sides claims of intolerance. Attempts to head off dangerous health misinformation have been characterized as violations of free speech. Donald Trump is publicly punishing news outlets that deviate from his administration’s version of events while privately suing some outlets into submission.

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The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.

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As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies —  they are deploying an array of editorial responses. 

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Related Knowledge Center: The CBS submission

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Corporate pressure has led to capitulation by CBS News in a number of conflicts with the Trump regime — including its newly ideological coverage philosophy.

The White House vs. the press


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