CBS News Scholarship Winner Takes Network To The Woodshed In Acceptance Speech

The backlash against the right-wing takeover of CBS News continued very publicly on Wednesday evening when the winner of a scholarship named for legendary CBS newsman Mike Wallace took aim at the network during his acceptance speech as the audience cheered.

Santiago Campos was awarded the Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship at the 47th News and Documentary Emmys. The scholarship is funded by CBS, but recent developments at the network have drawn a national outcry.

The first of those developments occurred last year when CBS cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as part of a quid pro quo with Donald Trump to receive his administration’s approval of the merger between parent company Paramount and Skydance, which is owned by Trump ally David Ellison.

After Ellison took over Paramount, he hired right-wing political commentator Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News. Weiss has been gutting the news side of the network ever since, including by firing journalists and anchors, censoring or killing news stories, and installing Trump supporters in key positions.

Basically, the network built by the likes of Douglas Edwards, Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace, and Dan Rather has been reduced to Fox News-lite, complete with fluff pieces favorable to Trump and right-wing propaganda.

Well, Santiago Campos wasn’t about to deliver a fluff acceptance speech after receiving the Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship. After thanking his family, Campos tore into CBS News and the new owners.

“While I want to thank CBS News for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship,” Campos said. “As corporate elites take hold over the very pipes through which our information flows, journalism that serves people becomes increasingly harder to come by, yet ever more crucial. And what the people want is the truth. So if at any time you hesitate to utter the word ‘genocide’ or remain silent in the face of blatant lies, remember to ask yourself: Who is this for? I hope you choose us.”

CBS News is being systematically dismantled and replaced with right-wing propaganda. It’s basically state-owned media now. Journalists are supposed to hold the government accountable, not help it keep secrets from the public or tell lies because the president’s feelings might get hurt. Campos rightfully used his speech to highlight a growing crisis. Corporations should have no power over news and information. And neither should the president.

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