Brendan Carr, the top Republican at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said the agency is taking seriously a recent formal complaint about CBS's alleged “distortion” of its “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. He claimed that there was.
“My colleague at the FCC, a Republican commissioner.” [Nathan] Simington is very proactive about this. What he points out is that the news distortion rule is a very narrow rule under the FCC. In most cases, this rule does not apply because it may affect editorial decisions that are protected by the First Amendment. But what he said was that CBS should release the records,” Kerr said on “Morning with Maria” on Tuesday.
“And the reason why this complaint is not frivolous is if, for example, in the example we gave, the answer to the question was “yes,'' and you replaced that answer with “no,'' the rules state. Because it is being done. “From another question…that could fall under the news distortion rule,” he expanded.
Last Wednesday, the Center for American Rights, also known as CAR, filed a formal complaint with the FCC accusing CBS News of “serious and intentional distortion of news.”
CAR argued that these discrepancies “constitute intentional distortion of the news and violate FCC rules governing broadcasters' public interest obligations.”
The complaint asks that CBS release the unedited transcript of the interview to set the record straight, echoing calls by former President Trump and many others.
“This is not just about one interview or one network,” CAR Chairman Daniel Soule said in a statement. “This is about public trust in the media on important issues of national security and international relations in one of the most consequential elections of modern times. It is important for broadcasters to manipulate interviews and distort reality. , and undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act quickly to restore public trust in the news media.”
Kerr on Tuesday said he would agree to a joint call for the full transcript of the interview to be made public after a teasing interview on “Face the Nation” revealed that the “60 Minutes” version gave different answers to the exact same questions. added.
“I don't think this needs to be a federal lawsuit because I think CBS should make it public…That would give CBS complete immunity from any FCC complaints.” Mr Carr said.
He further expanded that it was a matter of “journalistic practice and news values.”
“In fact, I know that people are now reaching out to their local affiliates and asking if they can release their records to the public.”
After weeks of silence despite growing criticism of the interview, CBS on Sunday night aired two different answers to the same question in a “60 Minutes” interview earlier this month with the Democratic candidate. issued a statement addressing the outrage that ensued.
A statement from CBS News called Trump's claim that “deceptive editing” was used “false” and said producers used “more concise” parts of Harris' answers.
