CBS Abruptly Changes Rules for Editing ‘Face the Nation’ Interviews

CBS News on Friday abruptly altered its rules for editing interviews on the long-running political show “Face the Nation,” days after Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, accused the network of deceptively editing her appearance on the program.

“Face the Nation” will now only air interviews that are conducted live, or prerecorded with no cuts or edits, according to a CBS News spokeswoman.

A statement attributed the change “to audience feedback over the past week.” “This extra measure means the television audience will see the full, unedited interview on CBS, and we will continue our practice of posting full transcripts and the unedited video online,” the network added.

It is standard practice for major political programs, like “Face the Nation” or “Meet the Press,” to pretape some interviews and then edit them for clarity or time constraints.

The parent company of CBS, Paramount, recently paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Trump over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview that aired last year with Kamala Harris, Mr. Trump’s presidential opponent.

The settlement came shortly before the Trump administration approved a sale of Paramount to a Hollywood studio, Skydance, which now controls the network and its news division.

Ms. Noem reacted angrily after “Face the Nation” aired an edited version of her interview with Ed O’Keefe, a CBS White House correspondent, on Sunday’s “Face the Nation.” She said the network had “shamefully edited” her appearance and cut out some of her comments about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration in March.

CBS News initially said the edits were for timing reasons and noted that the unedited interview and transcript were available online. (The full interview lasted 16 minutes and 40 seconds; 12 minutes and 15 seconds aired on the “Face the Nation” broadcast.)

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.