Poynter concedes that 60 Minutes had 'a sloppy moment' with their hit job on Ron DeSantis, but it still 'doesn’t ruin the 60 Minutes brand'

Recently, Reason’s Robby Soave examined the mainstream media’s conspicuous silence on “60 Minutes” egregiously awful hit job on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis:

The 60 Minutes DeSantis/Publix story is the biggest journalism screwup in quite a while. But with one exception, no media watchdogs at mainstream outlets are covering it. Why? https://t.co/p2s0ciwGm5

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) April 7, 2021

Neither The New York Times nor The Washington Post have covered this. Nothing from CJR or Poynter. The PolitiFact Truth-o-Meter dial hasn't budged!

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) April 7, 2021

Worst of all, Axios framed the story as DeSantis trying to "milk" his mistreatment, calling it "a juicy chance to ingratiate himself with the GOP base by bashing the media." Uh, the media bashing is well deserved here. DeSantis didn't start this, CBS did.

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) April 7, 2021

Soave noted that, aside from CNN’s Oliver Darcy (!), media outlets have been largely reluctant to call out CBS and “60 Minutes.”

The exception is CNN's @oliverdarcy, who wrote a strong piece about all of this. https://t.co/XPPUZcfidf

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) April 7, 2021

Good for Oliver Darcy. Really. He finally did his job.

But for the most part, it's fallen to Fox News, The Federalist, Daily Caller, Daily Wire, etc. The MSM's silence makes it seem like the matter is contentious, with the rightwing on one side and liberal journos on the other. It's *not* contentious. CBS screwed up, full stop.

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) April 7, 2021

CBS’s “60 Minutes” is the finest and most respected investigative journalism show in the history of television. Even after 53 years on the air, “60 Minutes” remains among the most relevant, effective and powerful brands in news. There’s no dispute that it has been and continues to be home to elite reporting on the most critical issues of our time.

But that doesn’t mean it’s infallible. And a sloppy moment on Sunday’s show is raising serious concerns.

So we’re supposed to just chalk this up to a fine, respected investigative journalism show like “60 Minutes” having “a sloppy moment.”

Nowhere does the Poynter piece mention the deceptive editing that happened. Instead of digging in and asking CBS and the producers why they edited his words together, they instead make this about how "this is a gift DeSantis,"

Most of you guys are ignoring the *actual scandal. https://t.co/vrbRy9PRlJ

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 7, 2021

And they are ignoring it on purpose.

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 7, 2021

Ackshually, to be fair, Jones does mention the deceptive editing. Just not in a way that holds “60 Minutes” accountable:

“60 Minutes” said DeSantis turned down requests for an interview. So Alfonsi asked her questions about this topic during a DeSantis press conference. He gave an answer of more than two minutes. You can understand how “60 Minutes” didn’t have time to run his full answer, but DeSantis complained that his answer was deceptively edited.

“DeSantis complained,” after leaving “60 Minutes” with no choice but to butcher his full answer.

And now, it’s Ron DeSantis who ultimately benefits, which is, of course, the real story here:

In the end, this all could benefit DeSantis, according to CNN’s Chris Cillizza. Cillizza writes, “The report — and the backlash — amount to a massive gift to DeSantis as he looks to his reelection race next year and, he hopes, a 2024 run for the Republican presidential nomination. … DeSantis couldn’t have written this script any better. He gets oodles more national attention and love from Trump conservatives, all the while being able to bash away at the media. Win, win, win.”

This doesn’t ruin the “60 Minutes” brand, but this was not one of the show’s finer moments.

Poynter doesn’t seem too upset about it.

Dang it, that mark, we juuuust missed it, shucks..

— graham thorne?Zen Monarchist? (@grahamjthorne) April 7, 2021

"Nothing Publix or DeSantis did was illegal" Yes we already know that. The scandal is 60 Minutes editing a clip out of context to fit their story, leaving out information & adding video to make it look like DeSantis said something different than his full quote @GlennKesslerWP

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 7, 2021

Upon further reflection, Poynter’s piece isn’t actually satisfactory at all. It is, in fact, decidedly subpar. And it won’t move the needle toward journalistic integrity even a little bit.

Good for @Poynter for addressing this, but "a sloppy moment"? I think this has gone beyond a "sloppy moment," folks. https://t.co/c5jnQtdxJF pic.twitter.com/6BZco92NMK

— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) April 7, 2021

This is too kind when their intent was to deceive.

— David Adelman (@OCDDavid) April 7, 2021

"misses the mark in its story" is a nice euphemism for intentional misrepresentation

— Positive Entropy (@PositiveEntrop1) April 7, 2021

They weren't even trying to hit the mark. They lied.

— I got your #Unity right here (@jtLOL) April 7, 2021

If you’re looking for a genuinely good takedown of “60 Minutes,” look no further than Ron DeSantis himself:

A calm and comprehensive takedown of what was nothing less than a political hatchet job. https://t.co/b5fMcLkMqV

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) April 7, 2021

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‘What a disaster’: Emails between 60 Minutes and Ron DeSantis’ office have CBS dead to rights on gross media malpractice