The "60 Minutes" logo. (Courtesy of CBS News)
While Paramount Global and Donald Trump negotiate behind the scenes with a mediator over a potential settlement that could decide the fate of the historic Hollywood studio, a very different kind of showdown has been unfolding inside the company—one that pits the "60 Minutes" correspondents against their corporate bosses.
In early May, as we first reported last week, all seven correspondents from the newsmagazine wrote to Paramount, CBS News’ parent company, requesting longtime staffer Tanya Simon be elevated to the role of executive producer. But, I've since learned from people familiar with the matter that the group of famed journalists—Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, Bill Whitaker, Anderson Cooper, Sharyn Alfonsi, Jon Wertheim, and Cecilia Vega—did not stop there.
In the note sent to Paramount co-chief executives George Cheeks, Brian Robbins, and Chris McCarthy, the seven journalists took a hard stance on Trump's lawsuit against "60 Minutes," according to people familiar with the matter. While acknowledging that mistakes have certainly been made over the years, I’m told they emphasized that the show has always corrected any errors transparently, in keeping with its determination to serve the public as an honest broker of news. But, they added, when they are factually correct, they must defend themselves from attack.
Then the group dropped the hammer.
They pointedly expressed concern that Paramount is failing to put up a fierce and unrelenting fight in the face of Trump’s lawsuit over the program’s Kamala Harris interview, which has been widely denounced by the legal community as baseless, according to the people familiar with the matter. They said Trump's allegations against the storied program are false and ripped his lawsuit as baseless. And they warned in no uncertain terms that if Paramount were to settle with Trump, it will stain the reputation of the company and undermine the First Amendment.
A spokesperson for Paramount previously declined to comment on the letter.
Nevertheless, the missive marks the first known instance of the "60 Minutes" correspondents taking a firm and unified stance on how they expect their parent company to respond to Trump’s lawsuit. While Stahl has publicly voiced alarm at the actions of Paramount, most of the correspondents have yet to comment on the matter. Instead, they’ve moved to engage with their bosses in private, and I’m told even made a pact against leaking information about their efforts to the press.
Regardless, while the group of iconic journalists made their case to the corporate overlords, the reality is that Paramount controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is eager to settle the lawsuit to clear the path for her deal to merge Paramount with David Ellison’s Skydance Media—a transaction that needs regulatory approval from the Brendan Carr-controlled Federal Communications Commission to close.
Indeed, on Monday, lawyers for Paramount and Trump said that they are in “advanced” settlement negotiations, asking the court to hold off on proceedings until Thursday. Redstone, surely, wishes to resolve the matter before Paramount’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday and the merger termination deadline on July 7.
Redstone seems poised to get her wish. Unfortunately for the “60 Minutes” correspondents and those who support a strong free press, the matter is caught between Redstone’s desire and need for corporate consolidation, the autocratic politics of the Oval Office occupant, and the principles of hard-hitting journalism. Unfortunately, in such instances, it is rarely the lofty values of reporting that wins out.
Data from Similarweb found that in May, CNN had declined 28% in year-over-year traffic, putting the outlet behind The NYT as the most visited news website in the U.S. And The WaPo had fallen 24%, falling to No. 17 on the list. But those outlets weren't alone in seeing big traffic drops. Fox News declined 24%, New York Post 27%, Daily Mail 32%, Business Insider 22%, and HuffPost 40%. So much for the Trump bump! [Press Gazette]
Earlier this month, POLITICO announced it had poached CNN audio executive Haley Thomas from the cable network as its head of content for audio and video. But Max Tani reported that Thomas has “changed her mind and gone back to CNN.” [Semafor]
"Reporters who call President Donald Trump on his personal cell phone often get an answer," David Bauder noted. [AP]
Benjamin Mullin reported on tech billionaire Michael Moritz's bet on local news after the publication he founded, The San Francisco Standard, expanded via an acquisition. [NYT]
Silver Tribe Media hired Neal Carrut as general manager to expand its focus to news. [Semafor]
Donald Trump (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Not Polling Punches: Lawyers for Donald Trump on Monday said their client had decided to drop his lawsuit against renowned Iowa pollster Ann Selzer—only to refile it in state court in a move Selzer’s lawyers blasted as “procedural gamesmanship.” Trump had sued Selzer over a poll that incorrectly showed Kamala Harris leading him ahead of the 2024 election, a case built on shaky legal ground. The lawsuit was refiled in state court just one day before a new Iowa anti-SLAPP law—designed to protect against baseless claims like these—was set to take effect. Robert Corn-Revere, a lawyer at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression representing Selzer, called the maneuver “a transparent attempt to avoid federal court review of the president’s transparently frivolous claims." Corn-Revere added, “Whatever court ultimately reviews this matter, FIRE will defend J. Ann Selzer’s First Amendment rights, and we remain confident the courts will see through this sham lawsuit.”
Elon Musk isn't going gently into that good night. The right-wing billionaire declared it is "time for a new political party that actually cares about the people" as he continued to voice strong opposition to Donald Trump's spending bill. [The Hill]
In another X post, Musk threatened members of Congress who vote for the bill, while having campaigned on reducing spending: “They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
Matt Gertz noted Fox News is helping Trump pass the bill "without alarming its audience by accurately describing" what's in it. [MMFA]
With the help of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of The Press, the Guardian sued ICE for access to deportation records. [RCFP]
Tom Homan called for CNN to be investigated for having the audacity to report on an app designed to alert users to nearby ICE sightings. Homan told Benny Johnson he believes "DOJ needs to look at this" as right-wing media pretended it was a major scandal. [Mediaite]
Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt—who admitted she hadn't seen the CNN reporting in question—said it "sounds like" the network was endangering ICE agents, calling it "unacceptable." [Mediaite]
There was more fallout after the musical duo Bob Vylan led a "death to IDF" chant at the Glastonbury festival:
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. (Screen grab via @zuck/Instagram)
Zuck's Superintelligence: Mark Zuckerberg is making it unmistakably clear: he wants Meta at the forefront of the A.I. race. On Monday, the social media mogul announced in a memo to employees a sweeping restructuring and launch of Meta Superintelligence Labs, signaling the company’s ambitions to build artificial general intelligence. The unit will be led by Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, which Meta acquired, and Nat Friedman, the former GitHub chief, underscoring Zuckerberg’s appetite for heavyweight talent as he shifts Meta’s focus beyond social networking. In the memo, Zuckerberg declared that “developing superintelligence is coming into sight,” calling it “a new era for humanity,” and stating he is “fully committed to doing what it takes for Meta to lead the way.” He has personally been recruiting for Meta’s A.I. initiatives, and unveiled 11 new hires for the superintelligence team, poaching top talent from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.
► The announcement sent Meta’s shares soaring to an all-time high of $747.90, before closing at $738.09.
Apple “is considering using artificial intelligence technology from Anthropic or OpenAI to power a new version of Siri, sidelining its own in-house models in a potentially blockbuster move aimed at turning around its flailing A.I. effort,” Mark Gurman reported. [Bloomberg]
As A.I. increases the demand for electricity, Google struck its first fusion power deal. [TechCrunch]
Utah filed a lawsuit against Snapchat, accusing the "dangerous" platform of facilitating drug sales to children, among other things. [Salt Lake Tribune]
The jury started deliberating in the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial—though shortly after, the group sent a note to the judge expressing concern it believes one juror "cannot follow" the instructions. [NY Post]
Oh no! The Scarlett Johansson-starring "Jurassic World" is getting panned by critics, scoring just 58% on Rotten Tomatoes with 83 reviews in. [RT]
20th Century Studios said the "Devil Wears Prada 2" has started filming with Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci. [THR]
Amazon MGM unveiled the trailer for sci-fi space thriller "Project Hail Mary," starring Ryan Gosling. [YouTube]
Hulu dropped the trailer for "Something Beautiful by Miley Cyrus," which it said will debut on the steamer July 30. [YouTube]
Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s "Phantom Of the Opera" spinoff, "Masquerade," sold out six weeks in preview shows in just three hours. [Deadline]
