With His '60 Minutes' Coup, Trump Sends a Not-So-Subtle Message to the Press

Earlier DU threads:
• Top Producer of '60 Minutes' Quits, Saying He Lost Independence
• 60 Minutes Boss quits After CBS Folds
• CBS Evening News ends its broadcast with a tribute to 60 Minutes Exec Producer Bill Owens

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Source: The Wrap

CHRIS WILLMAN

With His ’60 Minutes’ Coup, Trump Sends a Not-So-Subtle Message to the Press

The resignation of producer Bill Owens could send a chill through other news outlets, even if CBS was uniquely vulnerable

Brian Lowry
April 22, 2025 @ 12:54 PM

In the movie “Family Business,” Sean Connery’s character lays out a strategy for surviving in prison: Pick the biggest guy you can find, knock him out, and after that, nobody will mess with you.

Donald Trump has essentially done just that in his ongoing battle with the press, albeit by targeting a uniquely vulnerable journalistic giant, “60 Minutes.” Setting aside the details, this qualifies as one of those instances where mere appearance perfectly embodies what journalists often refer to as a “chilling effect” — that is, something that dissuades people from exercising their First Amendment rights in advance based on the fear of reprisals.

After suing CBS for billions over a “60 Minutes” story, and railing against recent coverage that the thin-skinned Commander in Chief viewed as negative towards him, Trump achieved his knockout blow with the news that award-winning “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens would resign after nearly 40 years on the program, which he announced in a memo to staff on Tuesday.

First reported by the New York Times, Owens wrote that over the last several 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.”

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Read more: https://www.thewrap.com/60-minutes-bill-owens-quites-fallout-trump/