This week’s Liberal Media Scream turns to the sloppy 60 Minutes report last week on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the TV news magazine’s smug refusal to admit its reporting and editing failures in a story a Washington Post media critic called “a plume of innuendo.”
Under fire for a week for suggesting the governor was in a “pay to play” scandal it never proved, 60 Minutes instead offered a big “whatever” in response to critics.
At issue was a story two Sundays back by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, who suggested DeSantis partnered with Florida’s Publix supermarkets to give COVID-19 shots after dishing contributions to him.
He denied the charges, but much of his explanation was edited out of the story, and media critics said that the reporter made her case poorly. DeSantis called the story a “big lie.”
Last night, at the end of the show, when letters are sometimes read, Alfonsi did not pull back her story and instead read excerpts from three letters, starting with how “some viewers, including a retired newsman, applauded the story.”
She moved on to a woman who denounced CBS’s “shameful biased reporting,” then ended with a cutesy challenge from a man who wrote, “I will only watch” the show “one more time. Just to see if you broadcast this message.”
From the conclusion of the April 11 60 Minutes:
Sharyn Alfonsi: “In the mail this week, comments on our story about disparities in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine in Palm Beach County, Florida. Viewers focused on an exchange with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at a press conference. Some viewers, including a retired newsman, applauded the story.”
Reading a letter from Nick Boryack of Vero Beach, Florida: “Ron DeSantis will continue to deny, refute, call your reporting a witch hunt. I can only hope that you continue to investigate and expose the truth.”
Alfonsi: “But many more comments condemned our editing and reporting.”
Reading a letter from Amy Ernest of Houston, Texas: “Shameful biased reporting – that is what you are guilty of. You are no longer journalists, but lobbyists and advocates.”
Alfonsi: “Then there was this:”
Alfonsi reading a letter from David Plewes of Lighthouse Point, Florida: “I have watched 60 Minutes for decades. After your biased piece on Governor DeSantis, I will only watch it one more time. Just to see if you broadcast this message.”
Alfonsi: “I’m Sharyn Alfonsi. We’ll be back next week with another edition of 60 Minutes.”
Media Research Center Vice President Brent Baker explains our weekly pick: “A very prominent example of how the news media refuse to hold themselves accountable which provides more fresh evidence for why anyone right of center has no reason to ever trust journalists to be fair to a conservative elected official. After a week in which Democrats, and even liberal media observers, condemned 60 Minutes for a distorted story, the show failed to admit its misdeeds or retract the story. Instead, they dug in, downgrading accountability to reading a few random viewer comments.”
Rating: FIVE out of FIVE screams.
