CBS Evening News under fire for ditching ethics handbook for 'empty-brain' patriotic vow

CBS Evening News unveiled a five-point mission statement on Friday, which the newscast claims will replace its previous 38-page handbook on journalistic ethics — but one particular element of the statement drew intense scrutiny.

"We love America. And we make no apologies for saying so," stated the section. "Our foundational values of liberty, equality and the rule of law make us the last best hope on Earth. We also believe in Franklin's famous line about America as a republic — if we can keep it. We aim to do our part every night: One way to think about our show is as a daily conversation about exactly where we are as a country and where we are going."

The oddly jingoistic nature of the mission statement prompted immediate concern and criticism, given that CBS News was just given a new right-wing boss, Bari Weiss, as part of a Trump administration-approved merger, and the network also just blocked reporting on torture being experienced by Trump-deported migrants at a foreign mega prison.

"In 2004 reporters at 60 Minutes had the story about how the US military was torturing & murdering prisoners at Abu Ghraib," wrote Investigative Post reporter J. Dale Shoemaker. "CBS execs refused to air it bc it would 'hurt the war effort.' Only after Sy Hersh threatened to report that did they air. Perhaps useful context for this."

"Any journalistic enterprise expressing a default love for the state is a very odd thing," wrote The Black List founder Franklin Leonard.

"This is such an empty-brain statement," wrote Chris Geidner of Law Dork. "The government murdering people on boats and sending people to CECOT are contrary to the rule of law, so what’s your point?"

"You don’t hold power accountable by wrapping 'news' in the flag and pretending it’s journalism," wrote Democratic strategist Matt McDermott.

"This rhetoric has creeped into a growing number of media mission statements," wrote Washington Post global affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor. "Many of us MSM journalists like to believe that we perform a civic function; very few of us see our calling as a nationalistic one. The former ethos, at worst, may be naive. The latter is downright childish."

"I love America. I think it’s a great country," wrote MS NOW contributor Rotimi Adeoye. "But when America fails or harms [its] people, will CBS actually report that, or will they decide that because they 'love America' they can’t tell the full truth about what happened?"