Can “60 Minutes” be saved?

It seems like an absurd question that a newsmagazine that has been highly rated for more than a half-century, respected and important should have such questions asked about it. This is a show that was so almost comically hard-nosed in its investigative reporting that it provided inspiration for one of the all-time great “Saturday Night Live” parodies.

Long story short: You didn’t want Mike Wallace showing up at the door of your company’s CEO.

But this is serious. Bill Owens, the show’s executive producer, resigned on Tuesday, saying he had lost his journalistic independence. You may think, so what? Who is Bill Owens and why should I care? Isn’t “60 Minutes” that show Donald Trump is trying to sue out of existence?

It is a really big deal. And an ominous one.

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Donald Trump’s attacks on ’60 Minutes’ are absurd

For one thing, Owens is only the third person to run “60 Minutes” in 57 years. For another, Trump not only filed a gigantic, frivolous suit against the show, but he attacks it on a regular basis on his Truth Social platform, darkly intimating that it should be punished somehow beyond the suit. What’s worse, Paramount, the company that owns CBS News, among other holdings, is reportedly eager to settle the suit in hopes of the Trump administration allowing a proposed merger to go through.

One big, important thing standing in the way of what would be an unconscionable bending of the knee was Owens, who vowed not to apologize, because he hadn’t done anything wrong.

And now he’s gone.

“Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for ‘60 Minutes,’ right for the audience,” Owens said in a memo to staff, obtained by the New York Times and other outlets.

“So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward.”

Trump sued CBS for $10 billion over an interview with Kamala Harris in October that he claims was deceptively edited; he amended the lawsuit to $20 billion. Trump has claimed repeatedly that CBS used different Harris answers to make her look better. CBS has said, and shown, that it gave part of Harris’ answer to a question to “Face the Nation,” then used a more succinct part of the same answer on “60 Minutes.”

It’s inelegant, but it’s certainly not illegal. Networks do it all the time to tease big interviews. In other words, Owens refused to apologize because he had nothing to apologize for. 

’60 Minutes’ hasn’t apologized. It hasn’t done anything wrong

Yet it’s become gospel among MAGA followers that “60 Minutes” somehow manipulated the interview to make Harris look better — and by extension, to make Trump worse. It is an absurd claim, but absurdity is part of the playbook for these folks.

To pile on, Trump attacked the show again on Sunday, April 13, after it aired an interview with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, and a story about Greenland, which Trump wants to take over. He posted on his Truth Social that he was “so honored” to be suing the show and the network, and that “they should lose their license!” He also said he wanted the Federal Communications Commission to impose “maximum fines and punishment” for “unlawful and illegal behavior. CBS is out of control, at levels never seen before, and they should pay a big price for this.”

And you know what? If it’s possible, look for the FCC to take at least some kind of action. Pleasing Trump is Job 1 in this administration.

Bill Owens was the voice of reason

I’m sorry, but this is nuts. Has everyone but Owens lost their minds? If CBS caves to Trump and settles this suit, it’s hugely damaging to journalism and to the truth. Who else will Trump sue, and who else will chicken out? (Quick answer: Anyone and everyone he feels like.)

There will be tough and unflattering stories written and aired about the president, no matter who it is — and when you’re playing fast and loose with the Constitution, there will be even more. 

It’s an informal but crucial part of our checks and balances, though the formal ones aren’t looking so great these days, either. We have a free press in this country. For now. If CBS settles this, it won’t chip away at that — it will lop off a huge chunk of it. 

In his memo, Owens said “60 Minutes” would continue covering the Trump administration, as well as future ones.

“The show is too important to the country,” he said. “It has to continue, just not with me as the executive producer.”

He’s right. “60 Minutes” does have to continue. Real, honest journalism has to. Let’s hope CBS has the guts to make sure that happens.

It’s never been more obvious: Trump has declared war on the media

Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Subscribe to the weekly Watchlist newsletter.