'60 Minutes' names new top producer as Paramount merger looms
Tanya Simon, who served as a top deputy to Owens, has been with '60 Minutes' for 25 years, most recently serving as interim executive producer. She is just the fourth EP in the broadcast's 57-year history and the first woman in the role.
'Tanya Simon understands what makes 60 MINUTES tick. She is an innovative leader, an exceptional producer and someone who knows how to inspire people,' Tom Cibrowski, president and executive editor of CBS News, said in a statement announcing the move.
The news comes at a time of major tension for CBS and its parent company, Paramount Global.
The decision to settle Trump's lawsuit, which was sparked by an allegation that '60 Minutes' deliberately edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris last fall to cast her in a positive light, has angered many inside the network, across the media and in political worlds.
Last week, CBS announced it was canceling 'The Late Show' with Stephen Colbert, a Trump critic and comedian who had called out Paramount for the settlement, calling it a 'big fat bribe.'
Paramount is close to closing a deal to be acquired by fellow entertainment giant Skydance, a multibillion-dollar transaction that will need approval from Trump's Federal Communications Commission.
Trump has celebrated the settlement and Colbert's cancellation and alleged 'New Paramount,' the company that will exist after the merger, has agreed to provide him millions in advertising and public service announcements, a claim Paramount has denied.
David Ellison, Skydance's top executive who is set to preside over the new company, indicated in a recent regulatory filing he was committed to 'unbiased journalism' and the new company would embrace a 'variety of viewpoints' after the merger.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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23 minutes ago
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Rating firms say US tariffs alone will not trigger EU sovereign downgrades Reuters reports: Read more here. Reuters reports: Read more here. US trade deal eases tariff uncertainties, but risks remain: Japan Japan said on Tuesday that its trade deal with the US has removed uncertainties on but attention must be given to the risks these policies are putting on the Japanese economy. Reuters reports: Read more here. Japan said on Tuesday that its trade deal with the US has removed uncertainties on but attention must be given to the risks these policies are putting on the Japanese economy. Reuters reports: Read more here. Philips soars after lifting margin outlook on softer tariff hit Royal Philips NV (PHG) stock rose 9% before the bell on Tuesday after it increased its profitability outlook as the impact of the trade war was not as severe as it feared. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. 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USA Today
25 minutes ago
- USA Today
The economy grew sturdy 3% in the second quarter as tariffs again skewed the numbers
President Donald Trump's global trade war has again distorted the broadest snapshot of the U.S. economy – this time creating a brighter picture. The economy grew solidly in the second quarter but forecasters traced the showing to the reversal of a tariff-related import surge that caused output to shrink early this year. Consumer spending and business investment increased modestly and growth is projected to slow further in the second half of the year as more of Trump's import fees filter into retail prices. The nation's gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services made in the U.S., grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3% in the April-June period, the Commerce Department said July 30. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a 2.4% increase. But the performance was artificially boosted by a sharp drop in imports, just as the 0.5% decline in GDP the first three months of the year – the economy's first contraction in three years – was rooted in a historic spike in shipments from foreign countries. With Trump's double-digit tariffs looming, American retailers and manufacturers raced to order foreign goods early in the year before the levies took effect. That led to an unprecedented flood of imports, which must be subtracted from GDP - the goods that consumers, companies and the public sector bought – because they're made overseas. Since those purchases were pulled forward, companies didn't need to order as many goods from other countries last quarter and imports plunged, reversing the math that dampened output earlier and bolstering U.S. growth. Is the economy doing well right now? The bigger picture: Forecasters expect the economy to slow in coming months as Trump's tariffs reignite inflation and sap consumer purchasing power. Economists project growth of less than 1% in both the third and fourth quarters, according to those surveyed by Wolters Kluwer Blue Chip Economic Indicators. Forecasters predict the Labor Department on Aug. 1 will announce that 109,000 jobs were added in July, according to the median estimate of a Bloomberg survey. That would be down from 147,000 in June and an average of 130,000 so far this year. Although the White House has struck trade deals in recent weeks with countries such as the United Kingdom, the European Union, Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan, the average US tariff rate still has shot up to about 20% from less than 3% early in the year, Nationwide economist Kathy Bostjancic estimates. That likely will push annual inflation from 2.7% to 3% by year's end, she said. Absent the duties, inflation likely was headed back toward the Federal Reserve's 2% goal, economists figure. Additional tariffs that further drive up inflation could take effect by a Aug. 1 deadline if administration officials don't reach deals with dozens of countries. When can we expect the Fed to lower interest rates? Economists don't expect the GDP report to move the needle on a Federal Reserve decision on interest rates slated to be announced at 2 p.m. ET. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady for a fifth straight meeting despite persistent pressure from Trump to decrease rates, though futures markets are betting on a mid-September rate cut. Normally, a sturdy GDP figure might make the Fed even less inclined to lower rates. The Fed shaves rates to support a weak economy and raises rates, or keeps them high longer, to fight inflation. But since the data was again skewed by tariff effects, officials are likely to put less weight on the numbers. For now, Fed officials are more focused on maintaining their wait-and-see approach to rate reductions as they assess how much the import charges push up inflation in coming months - barring a downturn in the labor market.
