Posted on 04/08/2021 8:25:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
This past Sunday, critically acclaimed CBS program "60 Minutes" broadcast an alleged bombshell report on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and an apparent "pay to play" scheme involving supermarket chain Publix and the state's distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The report alleged that because of a campaign donation Publix made to DeSantis, the governor favored them in the rollout of the vaccine in the state. The program further stated that in doing this, minorities were adversely affected since Publix stores are not as prevalent in their neighborhoods.
The segment included a video of a confrontation between DeSantis and the "60 Minutes" correspondent in which the governor stated that what the correspondent said about Publix was a "fake narrative." "60 Minutes" decried this as foul play and a deflection. After the segment aired, video of the full exchange emerged. What it showed was DeSantis explaining the negotiations that occurred between his office and the Democratic-led Palm Beach County over where to distribute vaccines. It was determined that more than 90 percent of the elderly citizens in the county lived within minutes of a Publix. As highlighted by Yahoo News and many other news outlets, the "60 Minutes" story was false. It was deceptively edited to make it appear that DeSantis said one thing without showing his complete statement.
After the segment aired and the facts emerged, the Democratic mayor and Democratic health officials in Palm Beach County came out and denounced the "60 Minutes" report as devoid of facts and completely untrue. They stated that in no way was there any foul play in determining to use the Publix supermarkets as vaccine distribution centers and that it was the county's idea to use Publix, not the governor's. Publix likewise stated that it was an attempted attack on their brand for no reason. When "60 Minutes" was asked to respond, CBS deflected, and the spokesperson provided no useful comment.
Dave Kerner, the mayor of Palm Beach County, who happens to be a Democrat, defended DeSantis, stating that "The reporting was not just based on bad information -- it was intentionally false. I know this because I offered to provide insight into Palm Beach County's vaccination efforts and '60 Minutes' declined."
This is just the latest example of why a bipartisan majority of the American public does not trust mainstream media. When so-called reputable news segments and organizations deliberately lie and misinform the public for no apparent reason, other than what must be partisan attacks, it only serves to further divide and sow distrust in the media.
In a January 21, 2021, article by Felix Salmon published by Axios, he writes, "trust in traditional media has declined to an all-time low." In fact, according to Axios "56% of Americans agree with the statement that 'Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations" and "58% think that 'most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public." The scandal surrounding "60 Minutes" highlights exactly why so many Americans are becoming more distrustful of the news media; and with CBS refusing to correct the story, it could be another reason -- along with many yet to come -- that could further cement that distrust.
"60 Minutes" would have been better served by playing the entire clip and laying out the facts, rather than airing a segment to its millions of viewers on allegations that have no basis in fact. CBS stated that the clip had been edited "as we always do for clarity"; however, the end result wasn't clarity, but a blatant attempt to lie and misrepresent what DeSantis said. If other journalists, including those at CBS, don't call out this type of behavior for what it is, why should anyone trust CBS or any other media outlet?
We have to demand that our journalists are honest and transparent, and purposely deceiving the public only causes more distrust and divisions in a country that's already deeply divided. "60 Minutes" must do everything it can to correct the story: acknowledging that a mistake was made, correcting it by re-editing the show to include DeSantis' entire statement, and finally, taking steps to assure this can never happen again. If they cannot or will not take basic steps, they will, indeed, lose credibility with many Americans. That would truly be unfortunate for one of America's formerly great news shows.
I know many only read the headlines here and rarely dig deeper, but this 60 minutes story is really bad when you dig into the facts.
This was a deliberate lie and a lie by omission. Any “credibility” that 60 Minutes ever claimed is gone in one story. I know they are biased and have a history, but this was nothing more than a hit job and even their peers are calling them out for it.
There story will be believed by millions of people....time for the Governor to sue them for billions..and get it to the Supreme Court
Seems like 60 minutes has expired its’ 15 minutes of fame
“... even their peers are calling them out for it.”
BFD. Nothing will be done. CBS is happy, the damage is done. Stupid, indoctrinated Americans have been told DeSantis is corrupt. Another good day for CBS.
I’m sure there are members of the media who have some small shred of conscience. But I’m confident the vast majority in the media are happy CBS took this shot at what could be a trouble making Republican.
“60 Minutes” has ALWAYS been that way. 53 YEARS and counting....
Same is true of every other 60 Minutes story.
The media lies on a daily basis. I don’t understand why this has been treated like the Crime of the Century for three days now.
When 60 Minutes and CBS news absolutely refused to report or investigate the Hunter Biden hard drive, that demonstrated to all rational, decent people that they were not journalists. They are colluding, globalist propagandists. They have no credibility, honor or shame. They are enemies of the American people and the American nation.
Do I remember correctly? Wasn't 60 Minutes also responsible for that "Truck " whitewash episode years go?
Too late, credibility was lost years ago.
60 Minutes has been manipulating their segments for as long as they have been on the air. Mike Wallace was notorious for selectively editing interviews to support the 60 Minutes agenda, and to make the subject appear as evil as possible. 20+ years ago, those interviewed by 60 Minutes were required to sign a release allowing 60 Minutes to edit at will, without objection. If the subject refused to sign the release, they were not interviewed. 60 Minutes would claim “[name the person/corporation] was given the opportunity to respond, but they declined our invitation.”
Exactly what I was going to say.
5 minute video shows the edited vid that was shown on 60 Minutes, contrasted with vid of the full DeSantis response.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=402y84XDU7w
It was a lie by omission, by commission, as strange as that sounds. They didn’t just not report something bad for the narrative, they had to work hard to edit the video down, an act of commission, in order to lie by omission with their work.
They lie every way possible, reflexively.
That’s a classic. I read Buckhead’s post within minutes of him making it, and because I’d been a user/purchaser of all the printing technologies involved, I knew he had nailed it immediately. It was sad it took 60 Minutes so long to own up to it, anyone familiar with the technologies and the times/eras involved knew it.
The media is actually piling on 60 Minutes over this
I was there as well. He said something along the lines of “That looks like it was produced in Word”, and before the broadcast actually ended. But this latest simply proves 60 minutes is the same leftist schill nonsense it was back then.
They did not repent.
That was NBC and Dateline....
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