‘Shame’ on ’60 Minutes’: CBS News Denounced Again for Anti-Israel Bias After Lesley Stahl Asks Hostage ‘Ridiculous’ Question

CBS News is embroiled in another scandal involving anti-Israel bias after an episode of “60 Minutes” suggested that Hamas terrorists did not intentionally starve October 7 hostages. Journalist Lesley Stahl interviewed several freed hostages during a segment of “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday. However, one portion of the interview is gaining attention for the way Ms. Stahl framed one question.One of the freed hostages, American-Israeli Keith Siegel, was taken hostage with his wife, Aviva, during the October 7 attack. In the interview, Mr. Siegel detailed the abuse he faced while he was in captivity, such as being forced to witness women being sexually assaulted. He said that once Aviva was freed from captivity, the conditions he faced became even worse, and the “terrorists became very mean, and very cruel, and violent.”“More so?” Ms. Stahl asked.Mr. Siegel responded, “Much more so. They were beating me and starving me.”Ms. Stahl interjected to ask, “Do you think they starved you or they just didn’t have food?”“No, I think they starved me, and they would often eat in front of me and not offer me food,” Mr. Siegel responded. He shared about how he felt his spirit had been broken and he felt “completely dependent on the terrorists, that my life relied on them, whether they were gonna give me food–bring me water– protect me from the mobs that would lynch me.”While Ms. Stahl questioned whether Hamas actually tried to starve its hostages or was just running low on food, there have been multiple reports of apparent Hamas terrorists – captured on video – stealing food and other humanitarian aid from aid trucks entering Gaza. One account with the handle Jews Fight Back wrote on X, “Lesley Stahl looked a Jewish hostage in the face—after being starved, tortured, beaten, and dragged through hell—and asked if maybe Hamas didn’t mean to starve him. Maybe they just didn’t have food.”“Are you f***ing kidding me? Shame on 60 Minutes. Shame on CBS. And shame on every apologist who still can’t admit that Hamas is pure evil,” the post added. The account StopAntisemitism wrote, “Ridiculous moment on @60Minutes: Lesley Stahl asks hostage Keith Siegel if Hamas starved him because they had no food. He shuts her down. Hamas not only starved him, they ate in front of him, mocked him, sexually humiliated him, and forced him to watch female hostages being tortured.”CBS News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. The interview is another knock against the Tiffany Network as it is in talks to settle President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS and is facing a “news distortion” investigation from the Federal Communications Commission over its editing of an interview with Vice President Harris. Sunday’s segment is the latest incident of “60 Minutes” and CBS News being credibly accused of an anti-Israel bias. In January, “60 Minutes” aired a segment focused on State Department rank-and-file opposition to the American role in the Israeli-Hamas war. The American Jewish Committee said the report was “shockingly one-sided, lacked factual accuracy, and relied heavily on misguided information.”The AJC further noted that the segment did not mention why the war was started in the first place and that it reported “unverified civilian casualties” in Gaza and “repeated the claim that Israel is blocking aid” even though such claims have been refuted. Meanwhile, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, asked why there was no mention of the hostages being held by Hamas.That segment reportedly became a source of frustration for the chief executive of CBS, George Cheeks. Puck reports that Mr. Cheeks specifically asked the president of CBS News, Wendy McMahon, if the segment could cause any problems for the network. Ms. McMahon reportedly assured him that she did not believe there were any issues with the segment that could cause controversy for the network. Far from leading to allegations of the network being anti-Israel, Ms. McMahon reportedly insisted it could be seen as too supportive of the Jewish state. CBS News also came under fire after the then-head of newsgathering, Adrienne Roark, reprimanded one of the network’s morning anchors, Tony Dokoupil, for the questions he asked best-selling anti-Israel author Ta’Nehisi Coates.Mr. Dokoupil, a convert to Judaism who has children who live in Israel with his ex-wife, interviewed Mr. Coates on September 30 and confronted the author about the language in his book “The Message.”Mr. Dokoupil said some of it sounded like it would be “in the backpack of an extremist,” and asked why the author did not mention the threats Israel faces. While the interview was praised by some media reporters for its civility, the Washington Post called it a “heartfelt” discussion, it sparked internal turmoil as left-wing staffers complained about their colleague’s questions.Eventually, Ms. Roark addressed the controversy in a staff meeting on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack and said the interview did not meet CBS News’ editorial standards.The network’s handling of the interview with Mr. Coates led to a rare rebuke from the outgoing chairwoman of CBS’ parent company, Shari Redstone.Amid the internal drama, a copy of an email from CBS News’ editorial standards and practices unit, Mark Memmott, was leaked, which told employees in August not to refer to Jerusalem as “being in Israel” because “its status is disputed.”“Israel regards Jerusalem as its ‘eternal and undivided’ capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem — occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war — as the capital of a future state,” Mr. Memmott said. Also leaked was an e-mail that was sent the day after the October 7 attack that cautioned staffers against referring to individual members of Hamas as terrorists without including further details about the person they were reporting on.In February, Ms. Roark announced she was leaving the network, a move that was widely perceived as a forced ouster. Besides allegations of an anti-Israel bias, CBS News and specifically “60 Minutes” faced harsh criticism over editorial decisions. In February, “60 Minutes” aired a glowing segment about Germany’s restrictions on speech. The flagship news program has also landed CBS News in the sights of the regulatory body that has oversight authority over broadcast networks, the FCC, which is investigating a “news distortion” complaint related to its selective editing of Vice President Harris’ pre-election interview that aired in October. CBS has defended its decision to remove what critics call a “word salad” answer Ms. Harris gave about Israel, saying it was for time reasons and not to make her sound more coherent. While networks will make cuts for time purposes, critics noted the cuts came at a time when the vice president was facing questions about her ability to speak coherently on important matters without pre-scripted remarks. In February, Mr. Trump told reporters he is in settlement talks with CBS over the Harris interview as he said the edits could have cost him the election. He said he thinks any settlement amount should be “a lot,” but did not offer a figure that would satisfy him. CBS has filed motions to dismiss Mr. Trump’s lawsuit and the FCC investigation. Despite the scrutiny surrounding CBS News and “60 Minutes,” some media reporters have praised the program for apparently not changing anything in how it covers the news. A media reporter for the Associated Press, David Bauder, published a story last month that lavished praise on “60 Minutes” for its “unflinching” and “fast and hard-hitting stories” about the Trump administration.And on Sunday, “60 Minutes” aired a segment lamenting the Trump administration’s move to shut down the taxpayer-funded Voice of America, which was established in the 1940s in an effort to counter Nazi propaganda but has been criticized by conservatives who say it has a “radical,” left-wing bias.

‘Shame’ on ’60 Minutes’: CBS News Denounced Again for Anti-Israel Bias After Lesley Stahl Asks Hostage ‘Ridiculous’ Question

‘Shame’ on ’60 Minutes’: CBS News Denounced Again for Anti-Israel Bias After Lesley Stahl Asks Hostage ‘Ridiculous’ Question

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