A prominent on-air personality at CBS deviated from the script last week, expressing anger over the announcement that his network will be settling a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump for $16 million.
This astonishing amount reflects the financial burden that CBS would have faced had it opted to contest the claim that last year’s “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris was edited in a misleading manner to harm Trump’s campaign. Above the network, Paramount president Shari Redstone was allegedly urging lawyers to conclude the legal battle.
The news of the settlement triggered a strong reaction from “CBS Evening News” anchor John Dickerson.
“The Paramount settlement presents a new challenge,” he remarked to viewers on Wednesday.
“Is it possible to hold power accountable after paying it millions? Can an audience place their trust in you when they believe you have compromised that trust?” he added. “The audience will ultimately make that decision.”
Dickerson, 57, was appointed co-anchor of the network’s flagship program earlier this year alongside Maurice DuBois. He has a history with “60 Minutes,” the Sunday evening news program that has faced numerous resignations and outrage following President Trump’s lawsuit.
The $16 million settlement is comparable to one reached by ABC News, which Trump sued after anchor George Stephanopoulos incorrectly claimed he had been found criminally liable for rape. Trump was found liable in a civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll, a distinction he argued should have been clarified by the former Clinton spokesperson.
Adding to the complexities for Paramount is its upcoming acquisition by Skydance in a multi-billion-dollar merger that requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission and Trump appointee Brendan Carr. Redstone was reportedly anxious that the merger might be rejected on monopolistic grounds.
However, all of that is irrelevant to Dickerson, who commenced Wednesday’s program with an audacious overview of his profession.
“Paramount Global, the parent organization of CBS News, reached a settlement in a lawsuit with President Trump today,” Dickerson stated to initiate the segment. “Journalists typically prefer not to report on their own actions. At times, this can be perceived as false humility. More often, it is a practical constraint. Reporters endeavor to impose order upon chaos.
“We aim to elucidate the reasons behind a bombing, the purpose of a legislative bill, or the wonder of a groundbreaking discovery. Organizing chaos into a preliminary structure assists viewers in comprehending their surroundings. They express this to us in airports, restaurants, and places of worship.
“The audience shares with us their anxieties, inquiries, and sincere perspectives. This serves as a reminder that we are custodians of that concern. It is a privilege to earn another’s trust, but it also entails a mission that influences your work; a mission that may appear grandiose.
He proceeded, according to the Hollywood Reporter:
“We are not as significant as we might think. Public figures have demonstrated that a misguided mission can inflict more damage than sheer force,” he added. “We take pride in our ability to detect nonsense, and this should apply to ourselves as well. When it fails, the consequences are substantial: a loss of public confidence and the proliferation of misinformation.
“A visitor to our newsrooms might question why we spend so much time deliberating over a single word, or why it takes hours to respond to the straightforward inquiry: What is this story about? Why is there a sense of frustration when a detail is slightly inaccurate? This is what diligent work resembles when it is profoundly felt, as the audience’s concerns become our own, transmitted through a bucket brigade from the subjects of our stories to correspondents, producers, editors, fact-checkers, and writers,” he remarked.
The challenges to achieving accuracy are numerous. The Paramount settlement introduces a new challenge. Is it possible to hold those in power accountable after compensating them with millions? Can an audience place their trust in you if they believe you have compromised that trust? Ultimately, the audience will make that determination. Our responsibility is to be present and honor what we observe on behalf of those we represent. The network’s initial heroes rushed to rooftops during the bombings in London. Its present-day heroes embody that same instinct.
However, another narrative from CBS’s formative years also embodies this ethos. A young correspondent was in the process of reporting a story when rain began to fall. The footage they had already captured was satisfactory. Everyone could have simply retreated indoors, yet she persevered through the rain, turning the notes in her grasp into mush. Time and again, she endeavored to get it right. This was not London amidst the bombings; it was merely a routine story, which is precisely the point. Although the rain intensified, we will continue our efforts. We hope you will join us as well. Until tomorrow.