There are times it is very hard to keep up with the happenings in Trump-MAGA world.
The last 24 hours are an example of that.
In that span, the renowned and award-winning documentary program, 60 Minutes, pulled a segment concerning the deportee program to El Salvador, generating criticism from within that show and outside that Bari Weiss, CBS’s News’ new Editor in Chief, pulled the presentation to appease the Trump regime who blessed Paramounts merger with the station earlier this year.
According to reporting from the New York Times, the correspondent of the El Salvador piece, Sharyn Alfonsi, cried foul, accusing Weiss of censorship for “political reasons” after the documentary had passed internal news division vetting, saying:
“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
In a statement countering Alfonsi’s criticism, Weiss conveyed:
“My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be. Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready.”
In Weiss’s mind, the story’s lack of context stemmed from the fact that requests for comments to the White House Departments that handled the deportations, including Stephen Miller, went unanswered.
To that claim, Alfonsi replied:
“If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient. We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of ‘gold standard’ reputation for a single week of political quiet. I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight.”
Please click here to watch the segment, which aired on Canada’s Global TV app.
When asked to comment on what Weiss did to 60 Minutes in pulling the documentary at the last moment, Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari offered:
“It’s extremely alarming. This has been part of a broader trend about the attacks on Democracy in this country and Democracy’s potential dismantling. I think the decision by CBS to pull a very deeply researched 60 Minutes piece that included criticisms of President Donald Trump is yet another kind of red alarm moment, a moment that should, concern Americans who care about freedom of speech and freedom of the press because the media is a very important piece of that, just the way Congress is meant to be a check and balance on the Executive Branch. So is the media, and CBS has really, I think, failed the American people with this decision.”
In a post on Democracy Docket on what Weiss did, Marc Elias’s first sentences were:
“The ’60 Minutes’ we have known is dead. The fearless program that many of us grew up with was strangled by corporate titans seeking favor with the Trump White House. I don’t know what is next for the storied franchise, but it will never be the same.”
I agree with James Carville and his assertion that when this documentary does air on 60 Minutes, it will get higher ratings, like Jimmy Kimmel did after he was suspended due to Trump pressure, than it would have otherwise.
Representative Ansari also relayed her insights on Mr. Trump again sabotaging viable wind power energy projects in the Northeast with his decision earlier today to suspend construction on five of them that, if ever completed, would cost $25 billion and power, according to the New York Times, 2.5 million homes and businesses.
Trump, who has long shown his disdain for wind power because the large turbines were eyesores overlooking his Scottish golf resort, had his team claim that National Security Concerns regarding radar necessitated the suspension of the projects.
This despite the fact, according to reporting from NPR, that the Department of Defense, including the Coast Guard, approved the projects because they would benefit national security because they would diversify the country’s energy supply.”
They would also counter China’s growing influence in that energy sector.
This decision also came after “Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order blocking wind energy projects and declared it unlawful.”
Commenting on this nonsenscial move, Representative Ansari told Blog for Arizona:
“This decision is part of a much broader attack on clean energy and part of Donald Trump’s allegiance to the oil and gas industry. I always remind people that during his campaign, Donald Trump actually directly asked oil and gas executives to help fund his campaign and promised that he would pay them back in return. This entire Administration has been waging an all-out war on clean energy. It is completely illogical and illegal to just cancel projects like this, especially these projects that are almost entirely built. And so, yet again, there will be lawsuits to try to stop these illegal orders.”
When asked if these projects and others like the recent suit Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed to protect funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure would ultimately succeed and be fully funded, Ansari commented:
“I have a lot of faith in the courts. AG Mayes has been able to protect $1.5 billion for Arizona by leading lawsuits against these illegal actions. And when it comes to these clean energy projects, the only results of Trump’s actions are killing high-wage jobs and driving up energy prices for everyday Americans. It is really an outrageous decision that we will continue to fight.”
On Trump’s latest attempt to sabotage the clean energy market due to science denialism and catering to China’s elites, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly posted:
Representative Greg Stanton posted:
Finally, Representative Ansari was asked to comment on JD Vance’s Phoenix trip to Turning Point’s America Fest event, where he cultivated their endorsement by making ill-informed and divisive remarks including attacks on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and “In the United States of America, you don’t have to apologize for being white anymore.”
On Vance’s remarks, Ansari said:
“I didn’t watch too much of it. I heard his usual nonsense. He made a statement about ‘no longer having to apologize for being white,’ which I think is just in line with how racist this administration has been overall, and their continued attacks on immigrants are very alarming.”
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Stephen Miller probably whined to Larry Ellison who then ordered Bari Weiss to kill the story. In 24 hours they have blown all of CBS News and 60 Minutes credibility. A prime example of why billionaires and huge corporations shouldn’t own news outlets.