Cnn
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The senior leader in CBS News resigned on Monday in the intensification of President Trump’s political pressures against the operation of news.
Wendy McMahon has referred to a “difficult” in recent months in a farewell note to employees.
“It has become clear that the company and I do not agree on the way to follow,” she wrote. “It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to go ahead with a new leadership.”
Although McMahon did not address Trump’s legally questionable trial against CBS in the memo, the trial has been at the top of the mind in recent months. McMahon publicly defended the news division while his parent company, Paramount Global, sought to settle with Trump while trying to gain the approval of the administration for its merger pending with Skydance Media.
The confrontation between the editorial principles and the priorities of the companies has deeply shaken CBS, one of the most distinguished diffusion networks in America.
Last month, the “60 -minute” executive producer Bill Owens, who led the program that sparked Trump’s anger, said he resigned, citing a loss of independence.
Owens and McMahon congratulated each other at the time, signaling a united front against Trump’s legal attacks.
Thus, the release of McMahon – one day after the final of the season of “60 minutes”, no less – has employees who feel “as a purge is underway”, as a CBS correspondent said on Monday. The correspondent spoke under the cover of anonymity because they are not allowed to speak publicly.
McMahon’s departure has also sparked speculation that a primordial colony with Trump is imminent. The company did not comment.
In a memo on Monday morning, the CO-PDG of Paramount Global George Cheeks thanked McMahon for four years of leadership. He said that McMahon’s first number two, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski will now report directly.
A person who knows the question stressed that the departure of McMahon removes a management layer at a time when Paramount tries to turn and spend less.
The future of McMahon was also far from being certain under Skydance, the company which is trying to take control of CBS and the rest of Paramount.
But by resigning now and referring to the disagreements of companies on the “path of the way”, McMahon highlights the controversial relations of Paramount with the president.
Trump continued CBS for the modification of the “60-minute” interview last October with former vice-president Kamala Harris. The allegations of the prosecution that CBS violated Texas Decceptive Trade Practices Act, a law on consumer protection, was turned by legal experts as frivolous and ridiculous.
CBS lawyers defended “60 minutes” and its editorial judgment for the reasons for the first amendment. But Trump has exploded the network repeatedly, even by sometimes urging the FCC, an agency he sought to control, to punish CBS by revoking his licenses.
The FCC responsible for reviewing the Paramount-Skydance agreement, the senior executives sought to settle with Trump so that the trial disappears. Mediation talks would have started at the end of April.
The notion of colony is an anathema for “60 minutes” the employees. The transcription of the interview with Harris, which CBS provided to the FCC in February, confirmed what the network always said: it is committed to the normal edition, not a harmful activity like Trump.
Months before resigning, Owens told employees “60 minutes” that he would not apologize for a regulation, because News magazine did nothing to justify saying sorry. McMahon also told colleagues that apologizing was a “red line” that she would not cross, according to two sources that talked about it.
Despite Trump’s attacks, “60 minutes” continued to broadcast survey reports on his administration all winter and spring.
McMahon recognized the viewing audience in his memo on Monday, writing: “Thank you for your confidence. You keep us responsible and you remind us why this work counts.”
Anna Gomez, one of the Democrats of the FCC controlled by the Republican, wrote on X that McMahon’s departure was “beyond the alarming”.
“Independent journalists are silent simply because their reports can threaten the ambitions of their business owners,” wrote Gomez. “It will only be home to a determined administration to censor speech and control the content.”
