Dan rather on the settlement of the Trump combination of Paramount: “ it was a sale ”
The former legendary presenter of CBS News, Dan, rather expressed his disappointment on Wednesday to Paramount’s decision to pay $ 16 million to the Trump administration and to settle his trial on a “60 -minute” report.
“It’s a sad day for journalism,” said Variety. “It’s a sad day for” 60 years “and CBS News. I hope people will read the details and understand what it was. It was the president’s distortion and a Agenou and to say: “Yes, sir” by owners of billionaires. ”
Most of the legal researchers have agreed – in which Trump accused “60 minutes” of misleading an interview with the candidate of the time, Kamala Harris – was frivolous and would not hold under the first amendment.
“What really brings me about this is that Paramount did not have to settle down,” said rather. “You set a legal action when you have done something wrong. ” 60 minutes ” did nothing wrong. This has followed journalistic practices accepted. Lawyers have almost unanimously said that the case would not take legal action.”
Rather expressed full support from his former CBS News colleagues and “60 minutes”: “My support for them is total, absolute,” he said. “I really think they fought a good fight on this subject, and they will continue to fight. People in “60 minutes” and at CBS News did not just take it down. They did their best to stop him. ”
Nevertheless, he said that he was not shocked by the Paramount Global Regulations. The decision to conclude an agreement was largely considered an essential step to receive the approval of the FCC controlled by Trump for the acquisition of $ 8 billion per Skydance of the media conglounage.
“I was disappointed, but I was not surprised,” he said. “The big billionaire businessmen make money on money. We could always hope that they will make an exception with regard to press freedom, but that was not the case.
“Trump knew if he was putting the pressure and threatened and just argued that they would fall back because there is too much money on the table,” he added. “Trump now requires a whole press organization to pay millions of dollars for having done something protected by the Constitution – which is, of course, free and independent reports. Now you take the sale of today.
Rather emphasized towards the greatest question of what it means for the United States as a democracy. “It has to do not only journalism, but more importantly, with the country as a whole,” he said. “What kind of country we are going to have, what type of country we are going to be. If the main press organizations continue to kneel before power and stop trying to hold the powerful responsible, then we all lose.
“And then large law firms settled on the right and left, on his knees in the same way,” he said. “The big universities do the same. Trump extorts what he wants. Now he extorts what he wants from press organizations. So when I say:” Where is it? “What are the effects on journalism as a whole?”
Asked what advice he could give to the people of CBS News and “60 minutes”, rather humbly said that it was not his place – but that they already know “in their hearts, in their very being, the best things to do. I would say that, I expect them to be completely doubled on the whole big relationship they have made to make. ”
During his over 60s as a journalist, he rather said that he had never seen the profession in the face of the kind of challenges he is now confronted. “Journalism has already had its trials and tribulations, and it takes courage to simply continue,” he said. “Keep trying, keep fighting. It takes courage to do this. And I know the people of CBS News, and in particular those of 60 minutes ”, they will make their level dead in these circumstances. But the question is to know what this development and the message it sends to us. And that’s what I’m trying to focus on. “”
