OPINION: Trump and 60 Minutes relives McCarthy era

The resignation (or dismissal) of “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens is the result of a clash with corporate executives over journalistic freedom. Pressure from Paramount Global, which owns CBS, has apparently been turned up at “60 Minutes” since a $10 billion lawsuit by President Donald Trump over how an interview with candidate Kamala Harris was edited.

Owens, only the third EP in the program’s 54 year history, is said to be staying with CBS News’ highest rated program but without the title. Yet longtime correspondent Lesley Stahl told Variety she was “devastated” and clearly called for CBS to give back the program’s its independence.

CBS had a similar issue 72 years ago. Edward R. Murrow clashed with CBS Network president William S. Paley over the coverage of Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his purge of suspected communists. McCarthy held congressional hearings. He leveled verbal charges, innuendos and questioned the patriotism and political beliefs of dozens of Americans. The interrogational phrase, “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” became part of American parlance.

Paley was concerned about journalistic fairness and losing advertising dollars. The movie “Good Night and Good Luck” and the new Broadway show of the same name explore that episode in our history.

On Broadway, Murrow is played by George Clooney, the son of former TV news anchor Nick Clooney. In the film, George Clooney plays Fred Friendly, who was Murrow’s producer on the program “See It Now.” It broadcast many of the Senate hearings where McCarthy was calling out many government workers and service members as communists.

I learned a lot about Friendly and Murrow in my time at Columbia School of Journalism where Professor Friendly had developed a broadcast curriculum. He showed us film clips of those hearings. We discussed the role of broadcast journalism during a time of fear, innuendo and persecution. We were there during Watergate and the Vietnam War.

We graduated in May 1973. Several classmates went on to do great things in journalism. Jennifer Siebens became a CBS News producer and Los Angeles bureau chief and later vice president of foreign news coverage in London. The late Howard Fineman covered politics for Newsweek and became an MSNBC political analyst. Dan Werner ended up as executive producer of “The MacNeil/Lehrer Report” and later “The PBS NewsHour.” These and other award-winning journalists coalesced at 116th Street and Broadway in Manhattan to hone the craft of journalism.

Many alums have recently shared concerns in email chats about the growing assault on journalists by the current administration. I can only imagine what those journalists in the mid-1950s and their employers went through as the “Red Scare” permeated our society.

Fast forward 70-some years to the Trump scare. How much power can he wield against CBS-owned and operated TV stations, all of whom have federal licenses to use the publicly-owned airwaves? How much influence can this president have on the pending merger of Paramount and Skydance Media that requires federal approval?

In times past, journalists have gone to jail rather than revealing sources. Media corporations like The New York Times and Washington Post have stood up to pressure to not print or air stories powerful people didn’t like or want to see the light of day. Paley backed Murrow in the end. A demagogue U.S. senator was silenced. Truth came out because of good journalism. One wonders if that will be the outcome in 2025.