THE TIFFANY NETWORK

 

Photo: Paul Undersinger

Make no mistakes about it. In the 20 years I spent with CBS News on W57th St., I was nothing more than an infinitesimally small cog in an enormous machine. Despite my deep desire to be a great journalist in the CBS tradition of the legendary Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney, and too many others to name, I never achieved that lofty goal. In fact, I never even came close. I certainly did my job as a photographer, technician, and sometimes producer. I even managed to garner many important assignments around the US and world. But my name will never be mentioned among the pantheon of great CBS journalists. Still, I was around enough of these people to know just how making the news works, especially at CBS.

There was an aura about working in the Broadcast Center – that enormous monolith of a building that takes up most of W57th St. between 10^th and 11^th Avenues in NYC. The place is so huge that in the 20 years that I reported to work there I don’t believe that I saw the entire building. At any given time, thousands of people laboring in virtually every professional capacity occupied that space. And, despite its enormity, there was a palpable vibe about the place. You could feel it.  It was as if the ghosts of those legendary journalists still roamed the seemingly endless corridors. The history that occurred there cannot be denied. I got goosebumps whenever I walked by the small office/studio where Cronkite announced President Kennedy’s death to the Country.

And it wasn’t just the history. On any given day thousands of people still worked diligently and with great integrity to fulfill the mission of CBS News; to tell important, honest stories. And nowhere at CBS was this creed more sacrosanct than at 60 Minutes. As I have written before, 60 Minutes was and continues to be THE standard in broadcast news. They have the most resources, the best correspondents, camera operators, producers, writers, secretaries, etc., the industry has to offer. Therefore, their credentials and integrity are beyond reproach.

That’s what made a recent so-called editorial decision by CBS management shocking AND disappointing. The new and controversial Executive Editor of CBS News, Bari Weiss, pulled a 60 Minutes story from correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi about America’s policy of deporting migrants, some who were  actually American citizens without criminal records, from the US to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador where torture of prisoners is known to take place. Ms. Weiss rejected the piece claiming that because there was no response or comment from the White House, the story was incomplete. But she left the possibility open of an airing it at a later day when it was in her belief more balanced. Apparently, there was some confusion in the distribution of this particular program resulting in the original version containing the Alfonsi story being streamed by CBS affiliate Global TV in Canada. By the time it was again pulled from the platform, it had already been widely picked up by social media.  As of this writing, there is still debate as to whether this was truly an accident or leaked deliberately by a CBS insider.

Now, as I mentioned previously, I may have never actively produced for 60 Minutes, but I was still around it enough to how it IS! EVERY “t” is crossed and EVERY “i” dotted. Nothing is left to chance. Nothing. In meeting after meeting, from correspondents to producers, writers, photographers, editors, graphic artists, researchers, legal experts, etc., the story is built, checked, vetted, and re-checked for accuracy and integrity. This is done for every story filed by CBS News and is particularly acute for stories of such enormous importance. Therefore, it’s highly unlikely that 60 Minutes was not completely thorough in its approach to this story. Furthermore, correspondent Alfonsi stated that attempts were made to elicit a response from the Trump Administration, but they refused to do so. Therefore, Alfonsi and a multitude of others were left questioning Weiss’s motivation. Alfonsi flat out claimed the decision was more political than editorial. Many agreed, sparking righteous outrage, especially at Ms. Weiss’s expense.

You may recall that recently, CBS, 60 Minutes, and the Administration engaged in another controversy. In short, under presser to complete a multi-billion-dollar takeover of Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, by Skydance Media (whose owner is a supporter of Mr. Trump), Paramount, capitulated by agreeing to pay Mr. Trump the $16 million in damages he was seeking at that same time for an allegedly improperly edited interview 60 Minutes did with then Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. CBS/Paramount and Skydance Media then completed the deal with the FCC’s (i.e. Trump’s) blessing. I have addressed the inadequacies of the Trump lawsuit in an earlier column. That set the stage for a new era at CBS, one of lay-offs, new management and more conservative content. Included in the restructuring there would a “new sheriff in town” with a mission to reshape the very soul of CBS News.

That new sheriff became Bari Weiss when Skydance/Paramount appointed her Executive Editor of the News division and ultimately responsible for all CBS News content. You may do your own research on her qualifications (or lack thereof). But I can say from quotes in the press and my own contact with producers still working at CBS News that her appointment was met with at least skepticism if not actual condemnation. She has little if any experience in Broadcast television management with most coming from the world of Conservative print journalism. Her own writing often criticizes other journalists and news agencies for being in her mind far too liberal. And in keeping with her Conservative leanings, she has pledged to install a new ethos in the newsroom where stories critical of the President and his Administration will be met with extra scrutiny and possible disapproval. She hinted of things to come at CBS News when she recently produced and hosted a “town hall” style meeting with Erika Kirk, the widow of slain Conservative activist Charlie Kirk. It should be noted here that the program went over like the proverbial “lead balloon.” The ratings were abysmal and good advertisers stayed away in droves. Ms. Weiss was also roundly criticized for her role as moderator.

My colleague at Fordham University, Professor Paul Levinson, an acknowledged leader in mass communication theory and practice, said this about Weiss’s appointment and the consequences of her actions involving the 60 Minutes Report:

"Bari Weiss is, at very least, a witting accomplice to Trump's escalating attack on our democracy.   The bedrock of our freedom is the First Amendment, and its insistence that the government keep its hands off of our speech and press.  By delaying the 60 Minutes report, even for a minute, on the sickening horrors of ICE's deportation of immigrants and people thought to be immigrants to the hell-hole prison in El Salvador, Weiss played right into the hands of those who don't want Trump's attack on our freedoms known to Americans and to the world. Hats off to whoever leaked that report to Canada."

 

I have always been intensely proud of my time with CBS News. Like any corporate organization of that immense size and influence, it had its flaws.  Television news can be a hard, dehumanizing, and cruel business. It was easy to be swallowed up by its vastness. But it always had one thing that I prized over all others, i.e. INTEGRITY. The people I worked with and for all had a great sense of giving their best effort to DO THE RIGHT THING, i.e., to tell the truth as it was seen, to do so with total honesty and without ANY political influence. If, in the end, if things were seen as “liberal leaning” (or “woke” in today’s terms) than that’s the way it was meant to be. We never put words in anyone’s mouth. The public must be allowed to make up their own minds based solely on the evidence presented in any story.

THIS is the way it was, and we must fight to see that it stays. CBS is known as “The Tiffany Network” because years ago it became the gold standard of television programming in news and entertainment. We must stop this downward trend of suppressing news outlets that might be critical of this Administration. Hell, it’s their JOB! And if The Tiffany Network capitulates, what hope can the others have to resist? We must send a clear message to the new owners of CBS that we will NOT accept this. And we can do that by letting our pockets do the talking. Do not support ANY Paramount programming or their advertisers until they see their folly. It can work. It will work. The Erika Kirk special was a disaster. Let it serve as a warning.

PS: The Kennedy Center Honors hosted by the President had the lowest CBS ratings for that broadcast since the network started hosting the program in 1978. It just may be working!