CBS News says it is changing its policy on how it airs interviews with top government officials following complaints from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who accused the network of selectively editing footage of her recent interview.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a statement last month after the conversation aired, blasting CBS saying it “removed more than 23% of Secretary Noem’s answers exposing the truth about criminal illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia, President Donald Trump’s lawful actions to protect the American people, and Secretary Noem’s commitment to fight on behalf of the American people and their tax dollars.”
The network shot back, saying in a statement to The Hill that the interview was “edited for time and met all CBS News standards,” noting “the entire interview is publicly available on YouTube, and the full transcript was posted early Sunday morning at CBSNews.com.”
On Friday, the network issued a new statement in response to “audience feedback over the past week,” announcing the company will “implement a new policy for greater transparency in our interviews.”
“FACE THE NATION will now only broadcast live or live-to-tape interviews (subject to national security or legal restrictions),” the broadcaster said. “This extra measure means the television audience will see the full, unedited interview on CBS and we will continue our practice of posting full transcripts and the unedited video online.”
The back-and-forth comes just months after Paramount, CBS’s parent company, agreed to pay President Trump $18 million to settle a lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview it aired with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump and his allies had similarly suggested, as part of their lawsuit, that CBS had edited the Harris interview to cast her in a positive light.
