C-SPAN assumes the role as ‘minder’ for CBS News.
CBS, which aired the edited version last night, has now granted C-SPAN permission to air the entire 90-or-so-minute segment this evening. Interestingly enough, C-SPAN will first air the edited “60 Minutes” version at 8 p.m., immediately followed by the entire interview.
“We agreed with CBS News that airing this interview … fits with C-SPAN’s style of airing events as they happened and without commercials,” said Terry Murphy, C-SPAN’s vice president of programming. “This is also a unique opportunity for viewers to see for themselves the editorial process at a major network news organization, and find out which portions of an extended interview actually make it on air.”
This is definitely a step in the right direction for CBS, given the justified criticism they’ve received over the past few years about biased reporting. Let’s hops C-SPAN gets permission to do this for all the major TV news networks.
As for the interview itself, I watched it last night. My first thought? Mike Wallace isn’t the Mike Wallace of yester-year. His softball questions and the playful bickering back and forth with the Iranian president were made-for-TV. I’d love to know how Wallace was picked to be the interviewer for this one, when so many others could have done a better job. Was he hand picked by Mahmoud in the hopes that there would be little bite left in the 88 year-old 60 Minutes emeritus reporter? We’ll never know.