ABC and CBS settlements with Trump are dangerous step toward the commander in chief becoming editor-in-chief
It was a surrender widely foreseen. For months, rumors abounded that Paramount would eventually settle the seemingly frivolous lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump concerning editorial decisions in the production of a CBS interview with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024.
On July 2, those rumors proved true: The settlement between Paramount and Trump's legal team resulted in CBS's parent company agreeing to pay $16 million to the future Donald Trump Library – the $16 million included Trump's legal fees – in exchange for ending the lawsuit. Despite the opinion of many media law scholars and practicing attorneys who considered the lawsuit meritless, Shari Redstone, the largest shareholder of Paramount, yielded to Trump.
Redstone had been trying to sell Paramount to Skydance Media since July 2024, but the transaction was delayed by issues involving government approval.
Specifically, when the Trump administration assumed power in January 2025, the new Federal Communications Commission had no legal obligation to facilitate, without scrutiny, the transfer of the CBS network's broadcast licenses for its owned-and-operated TV stations to new ownership.
The FCC, under newly installed Republican Chairman Brendan Carr, was fully aware of the issues in the legal conflict between Trump and CBS at the time Paramount needed FCC approval for the license transfers. Without a settlement, the Paramount-Skydance deal remained in jeopardy.
Until it wasn't.
At that point, Paramount joined Disney in implicitly apologizing for journalism produced by their TV news divisions.
Earlier in 2025, Disney had settled a different Trump lawsuit with ABC News in exchange for a $15 million donation to the future Trump Library. That lawsuit involved a dispute over the wording of the actions for which Trump was found liable in a civil lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll.
It's not certain what the ABC and CBS settlements portend, but many are predicting they will produce a 'chilling effect' within the network news divisions. Such an outcome would arise from fear of new litigation, and it would install a form of internal self-censorship that would influence network journalists when deciding whether the pursuit of investigative stories involving the Trump administration would be worth the risk.
Trump has apparently succeeded where earlier presidents failed.
Presidential pressure
From Jimmy Carter trying to get CBS anchor Walter Cronkite to stop ending his evening newscasts with the number of days American hostages were being held in Iran to Richard Nixon's administration threatening the broadcast licenses of The Washington Post's TV stations to weaken Watergate reporting, previous presidents sought to apply editorial pressure on broadcast journalists.
But in the cases of Carter and Nixon, it didn't work. The broadcast networks' focus on both Watergate and the Iran hostage crisis remained unrelenting.
Nor were Nixon and Carter the first presidents seeking to influence, and possibly control, network news.
President Lyndon Johnson, who owned local TV and radio stations in Austin, Texas, regularly complained to his old friend, CBS President Frank Stanton, about what he perceived as biased TV coverage. Johnson was so furious with the CBS and NBC reporting from Vietnam, he once argued that their newscasts seemed 'controlled by the Vietcong.'
Yet none of these earlier presidents won millions from the corporations that aired ethical news reporting in the public interest.
Before Trump, these conflicts mostly occurred backstage and informally, allowing the broadcasters to sidestep the damage to their credibility should any surrender to White House administrations be made public. In a 'Reporter's Notebook' on the CBS Evening News the night of the Trump settlement, anchor John Dickerson summarized the new dilemma succinctly: 'Can you hold power to account when you've paid it millions? Can an audience trust you when it thinks you've traded away that trust?'
'The audience will decide that,' Dickerson continued, concluding: 'Our job is to show up to honor what we witness on behalf of the people we witness it for.'
Holding power to account
There's an adage in TV news: 'You're only as good as your last show.'
Soon, SkyDance Media will assume control over the Paramount properties, and the new CBS will be on the airwaves.
When the licenses for KCBS in Los Angeles, WCBS in New York and the other CBS-owned-and-operated stations are transferred, we'll learn the long-term legacy of corporate capitulation. But for now, it remains too early to judge tomorrow's newscasts.
As a scholar of broadcast journalism and a former broadcast journalist, I recommend evaluating programs like '60 Minutes' and the 'CBS Evening News' on the record they will compile over the next three years – and the record they compiled over the past 50. The same goes for 'ABC World News Tonight' and other ABC News programs.
A major complicating factor for the Paramount-Skydance deal was the fact that '60 Minutes' has, over the past six months, broken major scoops embarrassing to the Trump administration, which led to additional scrutiny by its corporate ownership. Judged by its reporting in the first half of 2025, '60 Minutes' has upheld its record of critical and independent reporting in the public interest.
If audience members want to see ethical, independent and professional broadcast journalism that holds power to account, then it's the audience's responsibility to tune it in. The only way to learn the consequences of these settlements is by watching future programming rather than dismissing it beforehand.
The journalists working at ABC News and CBS News understand the legacy of their organizations, and they are also aware of how their owners have cast suspicion on the news divisions' professionalism and credibility. As Dickerson asserted, they plan to 'show up' regardless of the stain, and I'd bet they're more motivated to redeem their reputations than we expect.
I don't think reporters, editors and producers plan to let Donald Trump become their editor-in-chief over the next three years. But we'll only know by watching.
Michael J Socolow is Professor of Communication and Journalism, University of Maine.
The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
External Link
https://theconversation.com/abcs-and-cbss-settlements-with-trump-are-a-dangerous-step-toward-the-commander-in-chief-becoming-the-editor-in-chief-261006
© The Conversation
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
21 minutes ago
- Japan Today
12 members of Congress sue Trump administration to ensure access to ICE detention centers
FILE - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a roundtable at, the so -called Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) By MARTHA BELLISLE A dozen Democratic members of Congress who have been blocked from making oversight visits at immigration detention centers filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Trump administration that seeks to ensure they are granted entry into the facilities, even without prior notice. The lawsuit, filed in the District of Columbia's federal court, said the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are obstructing Congressional oversight of the centers at a time when there's been an increase in ICE arrests, with reports of raids across the country and people taken into custody at immigration courts. By law, members of Congress are allowed to visit ICE facilities and don't have to give any notice, but increasingly, the members have been stopped at the door. ICE officials have said a new rule requires a seven-day waiting period and they prohibit entry to the ICE field offices. The lawsuit asks the court for full and immediate access to all ICE facilities. ICE Director Todd Lyons told a congressional committee in May that he recognized the right of members of Congress to visit detention facilities, even unannounced. But DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told a different committee that members of Congress should have requested a tour of an immigration detention facility in New Jersey where a skirmish broke out in May. As President Donald Trump's immigration agenda plays out, detention facilities have become overcrowded and there have been reports of mistreatment, food shortages, a lack of medical care and unsanitary conditions, the lawsuit said. Congress has a duty to make sure the administration is complying with the law while operating the facilities, the lawsuit said. The recently passed budget bill allocates $45 billion for ICE detention — more than 13 times ICE's current annual detention budget, the lawsuit said. Members of Congress must ensure those funds are spent efficiently and legally, the suit said. But recent attempts by House members to visit facilities were blocked, the lawsuit said. 'These members of Congress could have just scheduled a tour; instead, they're running to court to drive clicks and fundraising emails," DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told the AP in an email. Requests for visits to detention centers should be made 'with sufficient time to prevent interference with the President's Article II authority to oversee executive department functions—a week is sufficient to ensure no intrusion on the President's constitutional authority,' she said. Also, ICE has seen a surge in assaults, disruptions and obstructions to law enforcement so any requests for tours of ICE processing centers and field offices must be approved by Secretary Noem, McLaughlin said. When Rep. Veronica Escobar tried to visit the El Paso center on July 9, ICE told her that they could not accommodate her attendance and said it is 'now requiring requests to be made seven calendar days in advance,' the lawsuit said. When the Democrat arrived at the center, she was denied entry. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colorado, met a similar fate when he tried to visit the ICE Aurora Facility on July 20. 'ICE is holding men, women, and children in overcrowded rooms without beds, showers, or medical care — sometimes for days on end," Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, which filed the lawsuit with Democracy Forward. 'ICE's stonewalling is not only illegal — it's a brazen attempt to shield abuse from scrutiny.' While ICE is demanding a week's notice for detention center visits, it said it's prohibiting members of Congress from inspecting ICE field offices, where some detainees are being held. When Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-New York, tried to tour the ICE New York Field Office in June, he was told his oversight authority doesn't apply there, because it's not a "detention facility." When Goldman went to the office, the deputy director barred his entry, but confirmed that people were being held overnight, sometimes for several days, but the facility did not have beds or showers. Reps. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado; Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi; and Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, made a similar attempt to enter the ICE Washington Field Office in Chantilly, Virgini,a on July 21 after learning that people were being detained there. But they also were turned away without being able to view the conditions at the site. The other House members who are fighting for ICE access include: California Democratic Representatives Norma Torres, Raul Ruiz, Jimmy Gomez, Jose Luis Correa and Robert Garcia. Also suing is Adriano Espaillat, D-New York. 'No child should be sleeping on concrete, and no sick person should be denied care, yet that's exactly what we keep hearing is happening inside Trump's detention centers," Gomez said in a statement. "This lawsuit is our message: We as Members of Congress will do our job, and we will not let these agencies operate in the shadows.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
21 minutes ago
- Japan Today
Toyota likely to retain top spot in 1st-half global sales for 6th straight year
Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday its group companies sold a record 5.54 million vehicles worldwide in the first half of 2025, outperforming German rival Volkswagen AG and likely retaining top spot in global sales for the sixth straight year. Global sales in the January-June period, including those of its small-car manufacturing unit Daihatsu Motor Co and truck-making subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd, rose 7.4 percent from a year earlier, setting a new group sales record for the first time in four years. Toyota last saw record first-half global sales of 5.47 million units in 2021, but its sales had since been negatively impacted by a global semiconductor shortage and a production suspension due to a series of certification scandals. Volkswagen sold 4.41 million vehicles in the same period, up 1.3 percent from the year before, according to the German company. In the first half, Toyota group's domestic sales surged 27.4 percent to 1.05 million cars, rebounding from a sharp decline in 2024 after it was found that safety test data had been rigged. Overseas sales also climbed 3.6 percent to 4.50 million units, a record high, driven by strong demand for hybrid vehicles across the world. Toyota's sales alone in the key U.S. market, including those of its luxury Lexus brand, rose 4.2 percent to 1.24 million vehicles amid last-minute demand fueled by concern over potential price hikes stemming from higher tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. Although the Trump administration raised auto tariffs by 25 percentage points to 27.5 percent in April, Tokyo and Washington agreed last week to lower the rate to 15 percent. In China, where competition has intensified with electric vehicle rivals such as BYD Co, Toyota sales alone climbed 6.8 percent to 837,744 units, boosted by promotional measures linked to government subsidies. In June, the Toyota group's global sales grew 2.7 percent from a year earlier to 937,246 vehicles, as those of Daihatsu surged 22.4 percent to 60,241 units after a tumble the previous year due to the certification misconduct. In the U.S. market during the reporting month, sales of Toyota alone edged up 0.1 percent to 193,248 vehicles, with a company official saying the last-minute demand has "begun to settle down." © KYODO
Nikkei Asia
an hour ago
- Nikkei Asia
Fed keeps rates steady despite Trump pressure, with two governors dissenting
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday in a split decision that gave little indication of when borrowing costs might be lowered and drew dissents from two of the U.S. central bank's governors, both appointees of President Donald Trump who agree with him that monetary policy is too tight. "The unemployment rate remains low, and labor market conditions remain solid. Inflation remains somewhat elevated," the central bank said in a policy statement after the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-2 to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate steady in the 4.25%-4.50% range for the fifth consecutive meeting. The statement noted that economic growth "moderated in the first half of the year," possibly bolstering the case to lower rates at a future meeting should that trend continue. But it also said "uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated," with risks to both the Fed's inflation and employment goals, language that has anchored its reluctance to cut rates until the path of inflation and jobs becomes clearer. Fed Chair Jerome Powell was careful to keep his options open on monetary policy. "We have made no decisions about September" and have time to take in a wide range of data before the central bank next meets in mid-September, he said in a press conference after the end of the two-day policy meeting. Powell noted current monetary policy is appropriately set at "modestly restrictive" levels, as some risks to the outlook have risen. This week's meeting marks the first time in more than 30 years that two members of the Fed's seven-person Washington-based Board of Governors voted against a rate decision at the consensus-driven central bank, and it will likely stoke debate about how Trump's public pressure to cut rates is playing out at an institution designed to set monetary policy independent of demands from elected officials. Both Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller, who has been mentioned as a possible nominee to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell when his term expires next May, were appointed to the board by Trump and "preferred to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by one quarter of a percentage point at this meeting," the Fed's policy statement said. Powell, a bipartisan figure who was appointed to the Fed's board by former President Barack Obama and later promoted to the top job by Trump, voted to hold rates steady, as did three other governors and the five Fed regional bank presidents who currently hold a vote on the rate-setting FOMC. The Fed's regional bank presidents are hired by local boards of directors who oversee the Fed's 12 regional institutions. Governor Adriana Kugler was absent and did not vote. Dissenting members of the FOMC often release statements explaining their vote on the Friday following Fed meetings. Treasury yields were up in late-afternoon trading after the Fed's policy decision while stocks were on track to close the session down. Futures markets lowered the odds of a rate cut at the central bank's September 16-17 policy meeting. The data since the Fed's June 17-18 meeting has given policymakers little reason to shift from the "wait-and-see" approach they have taken on interest rates since Trump's January 20 inauguration raised the possibility that new import tariffs and other policy shifts could put upward pressure on prices. The unemployment rate is still low at 4.1%, and recent inflation data showed faster increases for some heavily imported goods -- a development policymakers will watch in the coming weeks. The Commerce Department earlier on Wednesday reported that U.S. growth rebounded more than expected in the second quarter, but declining imports accounted for the bulk of the improvement and domestic demand rose at its slowest pace in 2-1/2 years. Trump has berated Powell in particular for not cutting rates to try to lower the government's borrowing costs, a concern outside the Fed's congressionally-mandated goals of maintaining stable inflation and maximum employment.
