FCC Seeks Public Comment on Kamala Harris 60 Minutes Distortion Complaint: My Take as a Video Editor

The Real Issue: Press Freedom

RE: MB Docket No. 25-73

To the Federal Communications Commission:

As a professional video editor, I can confirm that nearly everything on television, aside from raw C-SPAN footage, is edited. Take the controversy surrounding the 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, for which you are now seeking public comment. The original interview was cut from 45 minutes to 20, which naturally means some parts get left out and answers are shortened, whether it’s on Fox, CBS, or anywhere else. While this is basic media literacy, numerous outrage-driven articles have ignored this fact.

In this case, one CBS broadcast aired the first part of Harris’s answer, while another used the second. As an editor working within a 20-minute constraint, I would have chosen the second half, as it is more concise and better summarizes her main intent. Neither version is all that compelling. The idea that either clip, or even the full answer, could have swayed the election is ridiculous. If I wanted to help her, I would have cut the entire question and replaced it with a stronger segment.

The real issue is a U.S. president's administration suing news outlets into submission, something we’ve never seen before. ABC backing down from that flimsy lawsuit set a bad precedent, but given the potential damage to their company, it's hard to blame them when they shouldn't have been sued at all. Now, with the FCC jumping in, we risk the press further self-censoring to avoid the costs. Presidents have always clashed with the press, and they should push back by giving their own interviews, issuing corrections, or publicly disagreeing, for example. That’s free speech. But using lawsuits or regulatory agencies to go after networks over basic editing choices is an authoritarian overreach.

Regardless of political leanings, defending press freedom should be common ground. Even this right-leaning outlet breaks down, line by line, why the 60 Minutes scandal was fabricated: https://reason.com/2025/02/06/transcript-proves-the-60-minutes-scandal-was-always-fake/

I strongly urge the FCC to drop this case and make it clear that standard editorial choices do not warrant federal investigations. Thank you for considering my public input.