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Sunday, December 15, 2013

'60 Minutes' Continues Disgraceful Slide

Just in recent months:  the horrid report on Americans with disabilities; the Lara Logan affair, and now tonight's whitewash of NSA (and hit on Snowden), led by longtime FBI/police/NSA propagandist John Miller.  Here's the complete transcript of tonight's show.    My favorite comment so far on Twitter:  Will Bunch posted photo of Edward R. Murrow with: "Next on 60 Minutes: Man actually spins in grave!"    Good night, and good luck!   (See my full piece at The Nation.)

Glenn Greenwald tweets: "60 Minutes forgot to ask about how James Clapper & Keith Alexander routinely lied to Congress & FISA courts - just ran out of time."  And:  "60 Minutes producer gushing about his NSA access: 'It was like Star Trek...My favorite room was the Black Chamber!'"

From other key media observers.  Dave Itzkoff from NYT:  "NSA Doing Great Job, NSA Says."  60 MinutesRyan Lizza: "Wow, the 60 Minutes piece about the NSA was just embarrassing. Kudos to the NSA communications staff. You guys should get a raise." Jeff Jarvis: "For shame, , for shame....CBS just *bragged* that John Miller is 'the ultimate insider.' Yes, he just demonstrated that!"

Marcy Wheeler:  "60 Minutes: From terrible journalism to National Security State stenography, in just a few weeks." Carne Ross:  "Hadn't realized now does infomercials....Where the hell is Lowell Bergman when u need him? Oh yes, he quit at the end of the movie." Jay Rosen:  "This '60 Minutes' report on the NSA is... TV. That's not a compliment." Andy Greenberg: "This 60 Minutes episode has been a pretty good infomercial for the NSA so far. Did anyone catch that 1-800 number so I can order?"

Xeni Jardin:  "Remember when 60 Minutes was where people looked for quality journalism?"  The official WikiLeaks feed:  "60 minutes and NSA pair up to strike back on leaks; character assassinate ." 

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