Perilous times for the "legacy" media

Editor's note: Apparently, it was not a rumor President-elect Donald Trump sued CBS for $10 billion for election interference. Although it is being ignored and denied by CBS, it appears the story has been fact checked and is true. CNN and MSNBC are in serious jeopardy as "legacy" news sources and now it looks as though "CBS is probably toast."

The end of the line for CNN and MSNBC
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Trump sues CBS for $10 billion alleging its editing of Harris interview is election interference

By Christian Hetzner | November 1, 2024

Donald Trump is demanding billions of dollars from Paramount's free-to-air broadcast network due to damage inflicted on him by a "60 Minutes" interview with his opponent, Kamala Harris.

Donald Trump's campaign is suing Paramount's national broadcast network CBS for up to $10 billion in damages alleging it deliberately doctored an interview of his opponent to harm his electoral chances.

Airing on October 6, the 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris included a question on the Middle East to which Harris initially gave a meandering, wordy answer. The interview was edited to include a more succinct answer that Harris gave later in the conversation—a routine practice in TV production.

Trump claims, however, it was deceptively edited with the express intent to help her get elected next week by casting her in a more flattering light. The former president is seeking financial recompense to address the “immense harm" done to him by CBS's "unlawful acts of election and voter interference."

"Although CBS has the right to exercise reasonable judgement in editing, CBS crossed a line when its production reaches the point of so transforming an interviewee's answer that it is fundamentally different," the lawsuit claims, alleging the news program did "whatever it took to portray Kamala as intelligent, well-informed, and confident, when in fact she is none of the above."

After it aired, Trump immediately seized on the discrepancy between the longer version shared on social media and the shorter version that was aired on national television as proof of a media conspiracy to hobble his electoral chances. He has called for CBS to lose its broadcast license.

CBS senior vice president for legal affairs Gayle Sproul argued the interview was fairly presented to inform the viewing audience and not done with the deliberate intention to mislead.

"Your contention that 60 Minutes acted nefariously is entirely unfounded," she wrote in a letter responding to Trump's legal claim, warning they should maintain all records for discovery in the event of a potential counter-lawsuit.

Harris criticized for "Word Salad City"

Long TV interviews are regularly edited for brevity to make them easier to consume while packing more information into limited airtime. Anyone in the public eye who has sat down for them as often as Trump has would know this.

"When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate, and on point," a statement released last month by 60 Minutes said. "The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide-ranging 21-minute-long segment."

Yet this particular case is unique because it gets to the heart of a more obvious flaw of the Democratic candidate: Harris's reputation for entangling herself in flowery verbiage that lacks meaning when parsed for substance.

Please go to Fortune to continue reading.

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The "legacy" media will not stop their "dead-beat shtick of Russiagate":

Yes, Of Course