"60 Minutes" is getting slammed for a controversial, one-sided report on the National Security Agency and leaker Edward Snowden on Sunday night.
The two-part segment was reported by investigative reporter John Miller, and the problems with the piece started when he said this at the beginning of the segment: "Full disclosure: I once worked in the office of the Director of National Intelligence, where I saw firsthand how secretly the NSA operates."
Miller has a long history as a reporter, including stints from 1973-94, 1995-2002, and in his current role at CBS since 2011. But he also has worked as the chief spokesman for the New York City Police Department — a role he is set to reprise under incoming Commissioner Bill Bratton, according to the New York Post. As he disclosed, Miller also worked as a former DNI and FBI spokesman.
But what drew more criticism was the fact that in the lengthy piece, no on-camera interviews took place with NSA dissenters or skeptics.
For CBS and "60 Minutes," the controversy comes amid a high-profile recent mistake. Late last month, correspondent Lara Logan took a leave of absence after a damning internal report into a discredited segment on the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi. Logan issued an on-air correction on the piece after it was determined that she was misled by the piece's main source, a security contractor named Dylan Davies.
For the NSA piece, the criticism began pouring in from the likes of Glenn Greenwald, who has been at the front of reporting many of the Snowden leaks:
60 Minutes journalism: former DNI official & FBI spokesman - soon to be NYPD official - "interviews" NSA chief http://t.co/wvEGO9ducb
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 16, 2013New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza called the piece "embarrassing":
Wow, the 60 Minutes piece about the NSA was just embarrassing. Kudos to the NSA communications staff. You guys should get a raise.
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) December 16, 2013NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen hit the segments:
This '60 Minutes' report on the NSA is... TV. That's not a compliment.
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) December 16, 2013You can watch the full segment below: