If you haven’t been paying attention, to say things haven’t gone smashingly for CBS News in recent months would be an understatement.
The outlet has seen high-profile talents like Norah O’Donnell step away from its flagship news program, CBS Evening News. The nightly newscast, by the way, has been mired in a ratings slump that has seen it drop below 4 million viewers nightly, being more than doubled at times by ABC World News Tonight.
Additionally, 60 Minutes, one of the most venerable television news programs in history, has seen turmoil as Executive Producer Bill Owens departed the show, citing concerns about editorial control over the content of the program.
Those same concerns were echoed this week as CBS News and Stations President and CEO Wendy McMahon announced she, too, would depart the network over growing concerns about who had the final say on how the outlet operated.
“It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership, and it’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,” McMahon said in a memo to staffers announcing her exit. Ya think?
They say all press is good press, but I don’t know how anyone could look at what has happened at CBS News in recent months and think “Those guys are killing it!”
Many of the concerns shared by CBS News employees are about the network’s potential settlement of a lawsuit brought forth by President Donald Trump over the 60 Minutes interview with his opponent in the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris. Trump has called for FCC chair Brendan Carr — who is more of a lackey for the president rather than an FCC commissioner at this point — to impose “maximum fines” on CBS News for negative coverage of him.
Despite experts labeling the lawsuit frivolous and CBS News itself stating that there is “no legal basis” for Trump to sue the outlet, the President launched it anyway, seeking $20 billion in damages.
Most reputable news outlets would view such demands as equivalent to an angered seven-year-old who just went bankrupt during a rousing game of Monopoly. But, Donald Trump isn’t your average angered seven-year-old; he’s the President of the United States who has surrounded himself with the most dedicated sycophants in human history. While it’s a weird flex, it’s a flex nonetheless.
It isn’t hard to connect the dots between President Trump launching a $20 billion lawsuit against CBS News while the network’s parent company — Paramount Global — is looking to undergo a merger with Skydance Media that needs approval from…the Trump administration.
So, a settlement is reportedly in the works. Some reports have suggested Paramount Global would be willing to pay — which totally wouldn’t be a bribe, wink wink — up to $50 million to Trump to make the lawsuit go away.
That potential settlement — justifiably — has angered many inside CBS News. When you feel like you’ve done nothing wrong, and the boss is going to sell you down the river to make a few bucks, there’s certainly going to be a part of you that resents that decision.
And that’s the one question I think CBS News — executives, more so than anchors, correspondents, and producers — needs to answer before going down the path of settling the Trump lawsuit: Do you care more about principles than dollars?
Who am I kidding? The answer is undoubtedly dollars. It’s almost always going to be dollars. And that’s a crying shame. Because the message CBS News will send when — not if — it settles this lawsuit is that standing up to a bully, even when you’re right, isn’t worth the effort. And that’s an insanely demoralizing message to send.
Furthermore, the message inside your own walls is that the company doesn’t have your back. I don’t know if you’ve ever worked in an environment where that’s the case, but it’s borderline impossible. Always looking over your shoulder, wondering who the next person to be thrown under the bus would be, questioning if you’re allowed to say what you think or believe, curious if you’ll be reprimanded for angering the wrong person, advertiser, or entity. It’s a terrible position to find yourself in in a professional setting. And, Paramount Global is going to do it anyway, truth be damned.
I would love to say I can’t fault Paramount Global or Shari Redstone, the non-executive chairwoman of the company, for considering settling the lawsuit. But I can. I absolutely can fault each for their decisions. Because it’s not only bad for the business of journalism and television, it’s bad for the country. When someone feels empowered to hold anyone they deem to be an enemy hostage for millions of dollars, it’s a bad thing. And that’s not a Trump thing, that’s an everyone thing.
If Paramount Global — and CBS News, by proxy — doesn’t believe that a merger with Skydance Media will be approved by the Trump administration unless it provides either more favorable coverage or millions from a settlement that’s totally not a bribe, what message does that send to the public?
The best way to deal with a bully is to stand up to them. Not bend the knee. Unless, of course, that bully stands in the way of you making a little bit of money. At that point, you sell out your principles and integrity for the short-term gain. Everyone knows that.
Or maybe, just maybe, that isn’t the right way to operate.
I’d love to end this column with hope and optimism that Paramount Global will do the right thing by CBS News and take a stand. I’d love to, but I can’t. And that might be the worst thing of all. The hope that the parent company of a major news organization would do the right thing for its credibility, its employees, and the public as a whole being so wildly unattainable showcases the sad state of affairs of American journalism and mainstream media today.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
