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The long -lasting executive producer of CBS 60 minutes The program left, telling the staff that he had lost his journalistic independence, while the parent company Paramount plans to settle a trial by US President Donald Trump.
“In the past few months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to perform the show as I have always executed. To make independent decisions based on what was good for 60 minutesJust for the public, “producer Bill Owens said on Tuesday in an email.
His release comes when CBS faces Trump's anger, who continued the network for $ 20 billion for what he claims to be a deceptive assembly of an interview last year with Kamala Harris, the former vice-president and his opponent in the 2024 elections.
CBS and his lawyers said the trial was without merit. However, the managers of Paramount and the control shareholder Shari Redstone weighed by paying settlement or offering apologies to Trump, according to people familiar with the issue.
The debate has weighed on the CBS editorial room in recent months, because journalists have been angry with the prospect that their business owner pays for a regulation on what they consider a false trial.
The two parties hired a mediator for the case, the New York Times reported this month. The talks would not start before May 30, said a person familiar with the issue.
The legal dispute occurs while Paramount awaits the regulatory approval of an $ 8 billion merger with Skydance, a Hollywood studio supported by billionaire Larry Ellison, who is a longtime friend of Trump, and led by his son, David Ellison.
Since his entry into office in January, Trump has waged a new war with the media, which he has long described as “enemy of the people”. Disney in December agreed to pay $ 15 million to set up a defamation trial brought by Trump against ABC News.
Trump last week struck 60 minutes. “I am so honored to continue 60 minutes, CBS Fake News, and Paramount, on their fraudulent, beyond recognition, reports,” he published on his social platform Truth. “They should lose their license!”
“Bill led 60 minutes With unshakable integrity, curiosity and a deep commitment to the truth, “CBS News director of News, Wendy McMahon, said on Tuesday in a note to staff.” He defended the type of journalism that informs, illuminates and often changes the national conversation. “”
