Brandon Carr, the top Republican at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), claimed the agency is taking the recent formal complaint seriously. CBS’s alleged “distortion” like him “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.
“My FCC colleague, Republican Commissioner (Nathan) Symington, has been very active on this. What he pointed out is that the news distortion rule at the FCC is a very narrow rule. In almost every case, it does not apply because it may involve editorial decisions that are protected by the First Amendment. But what he said is that CBS should release the transcript,” Commissioner Carr said Tuesday on “Mornings with Maria.”
“And the reason this complaint is not absurd is because the rules say, for example, the example we’ve given is that if you take the answer ‘yes’ to a question and you change the answer to ‘no’ “It’s a separate question… it’s something that would potentially fall under the news distortion rule,” he elaborated.
Last Wednesday, the Center for American Rights, also known as CAR, said on CBS News “an important and The news was deliberately distorted.”
CAR argued that the discrepancies “amount to intentionally distorting the news – a violation of FCC rules governing broadcasters’ public interest obligations.”
complaint emphasized CBS releases unedited transcript of the interview to set the record straight, which echoes the calls Former President Trump and many others.
“This is not just about an interview or a network,” CAR President Daniel Suhr said in a statement. “This is about public trust in the media on critical issues of national security and international relations during one of the most consequential elections of our time. When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act quickly to restore public confidence in our news media.
Carr said Tuesday that he agrees with the joint call to release the full interview transcript, following reports that an interview tease on “Face the Nation” showed a different answer to the exact same question in the “60 Minutes” version .
Carr said, “I don’t think it needs to be made a federal case because I think CBS should release it… then that would completely absolve CBS of that FCC complaint.”
He elaborated that it was a matter of “journalistic practice and newsworthiness”.
“In fact, I know that people are reaching out to their local partners right now and asking them if they would release that transcript.”
After remaining silent for weeks despite mounting criticism over the interview, CBS published a statement Sunday evening blaming CBS for airing two different answers to the same question in a “60 Minutes” interview earlier this month with the Democratic nominee. The resentment that arose later was addressed.
A CBS News statement said Trump claims “fraudulent editing” used is “incorrect”, and it was reported that the producers used the “more concise” part of Harris’s answer.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
(TagstoTranslate)Media(T)US News(T)2024 Presidential Election(T)60 Minutes(T)CBS(T)CBS News(T)FCC(T)Interview(T)Kamala Harris
