Readers Urge Paramount to Show Resilience: Trump-'60 Minutes' Dispute Sparks Calls for Firm Stand against Bullying
To the Editor: Enough already! When will someone challenge this bully ("Paramount squeezes closer to settling Trump's $20-billion '60 Minutes' lawsuit," May 5)? The playground antics of punishing networks that air responsible journalism opposite to President Trump's preference, legal offices representing clients he dislikes, universities championing diversity and equal opportunity, and so on, is tiresome and alarming.
It's high time someone confronts this autocrat. If Paramount declines to settle, it may forfeit its merger due to an adversarial president, but even Shari Redstone, the non-executive chair of Paramount, must admit that managing a media company in a democracy is preferable to living under an autocratic regime.
Richard Shafarman, Santa Clarita
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To the editor: The disgraceful sight of CBS News groveling to Trump over a reckless lawsuit about its editing of a Kamala Harris interview is nothing less than appalling. Redstone's goal to sell the company to the Ellison family for billions is being achieved at the expense of CBS News' esteemed journalistic integrity and sets a harmful legal precedent that could influence journalism across the nation.
Is this the CBS News that once electrified the nation with Edward R. Murrow's "This is London" broadcasts in 1940? Is this the CBS News that transmitted Walter Cronkite's truthful broadcast from Vietnam after the Tet Offensive disaster?
No, this is the CBS News that's being auctioned to the highest bidder and self-destructing in the process.
Mara Casey, Laguna Niguel
Additional Reading
- Opinions ### Letters to the Editor: Even this liberal can concur with President Trump on one point concerning education-based opposition
- The ongoing mediation between Trump's lawyers and Paramount over the latter's alleged deceptive editing of an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris is raising concerns about conflicts of interest, as Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is overseeing both the approval process of the Paramount-Skydance deal and an investigation related to the interview.
- The threat of Trump's lawsuit, due to its potential impact on the Paramount-Skydance deal's approval, highlights the troubling intersection of politics, business, and entertainment, as well as the President's ability to influence the media and the legal system.
- As California-based entertainment companies navigate this uncharted territory, the case presents an opportunity to reassess the role of general news, war-and-conflicts reporting, and education-based opinion in shaping public discourse and informing the electorate.
- This incident could serve as a cautionary tale for the media and the business community, underscoring the importance of upholding journalistic integrity in the face of political pressure, and the need for clear and transparent legal regulations to protect the freedom of the press.
