Edits of videos of the presidential candidates by Fox News and CBS News have sparked a debate: Where’s the line between fair editing and misleading the audience?

Last week, former President Donald Trump visited a barbershop in the Bronx with “Fox & Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones. Trump and Jones sat down in front of a flag draped over a beverage cooler and took questions from patrons and staff who had gathered to speak with the former president. Fox News aired segments of that conversation on “Fox & Friends” earlier this week.

On Thursday morning, CNN reported on new footage that revealed Fox News’ edit of Trump’s responses was heavy-handed.

One of the barbers had recorded a large portion of Trump’s Q&A section with people in the shop. The more raw, complete footage shows Trump taking one of his customary circuitous and anecdote-filled routes to answer one of the patron’s questions.

From that footage, which the barber posted to Instagram, CNN found that “Fox and Friends” aired clips that avoided unrelated stories and exaggerations by Trump.

“Participants had to repeatedly follow up when Trump meandered away from the original point of their questions,” CNN’s Brian Stelter and Liam Reilly wrote.

Notably, when an audience member asked whether Trump would consider eliminating federal taxes altogether, the “Fox and Friends” edit showed an immediate response: “There is a way.”

But the found footage shows that the former president had more of a meandering path to that answer, one that included mentions of the “death tax” and its implication for small businesses, as well as — CNN mentions — “the Keystone Pipeline, Ronald Reagan, Russia, and transgender sports players.”

This comes in sharp contrast to recent claims by Trump that a CBS “60 Minutes” interview of his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris may be “a major Campaign Finance Violation.” (PolitiFact rated that False.)

Trump pointed to Harris’ answers in clips CBS shared on social media to promote the appearance, which differed from what aired as part of the broadcast. Trump took specific aim at Harris’ response to a question about U.S.-Israel relations.

He said this disparity was evidence that CBS edited the interview to make Harris look “more presidential.”

Some social media users claimed the interview was an “in-kind contribution,” which is a nonmonetary donation to a political candidate. Dan Weiner, the director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s elections and government program, told PolitiFact that argument is far-fetched.

CBS News said the full interview took 45 minutes, and it was edited down to 20 minutes.

Kelly McBride, senior vice president at Poynter and chair of its Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, told PolitiFact that this type of editing is typical for broadcast news, and is often due to time constraints.

In fact, news outlets across all mediums — print, digital, video, and more — routinely edit for brevity, clarity, and a host of other factors. It’s a standard, long-accepted practice. Raw, unedited video or transcripts of conversations rarely make it to publication outside of places like C-Span, in part because audiences simply expect a more polished product.

In that light, some of the outrage reflects a broader trend of vilifying standard journalistic practices. In 2022, for example, social media users erupted when journalist Taylor Lorenz knocked on doors to track down an anonymous TikTok user who had spread hate against LGBTQ+ people. Door-knocking to verify facts or gather information is one of the most fundamental methods in journalism, yet it was portrayed as invasive or unethical by critics who were either unfamiliar with the practice or theatrically pearl-clutching to denigrate reporters.

In most cases, McBride told PolitiFact, broadcast news outlets edit video “to make the production more digestible for the audience, not to deceive, by either making a candidate look better or worse.”

It certainly seems like the edits “60 Minutes” made fall into that category, at least based on what CBS released that didn’t air on television. It’s not as clear cut for “Fox & Friends.”

Though Fox News’ edits certainly helped with brevity and digestibility, Trump’s serpentine statements have become a major focus in the election. With President Joe Biden out of the race, the 78-year-old Trump, if elected, would be the oldest president to take the oath in U.S. history. That has put renewed interest in his health and wellbeing — and a spotlight on his meandering method of public speaking.

Even if Fox News aimed to make a smoother news report, the “Fox & Friends” audience was left with a misleading picture of Trump’s sharpness.

Because CBS News hasn’t released the unedited, full interview with Harris, either in video or transcript form, Trump has been able to question the network’s integrity. “Once you cast doubt on something, it’s really on the news organization to explain and demonstrate why it’s trustworthy, and that shouldn’t be hard to do,” McBride told PolitiFact.

So while CBS News may have been in the clear to cut the interview down to fit TV, it may be in the network’s best interest to release the video or transcript to put this issue to rest.

Meanwhile, Fox News doesn’t really have that luxury. The full video of Trump’s barbershop interview on Instagram makes it clear that the network’s edits changed the tenor of Trump’s responses in a way that made him look more cogent. That’s deceptive.

By Ren LaForme, Poynter’s managing editor; and Josie Hollingsworth, PolitiFact’s audience director

Election night coverage might stretch on for multiple nights

Television networks aren’t just preparing for election night this year — they’re getting ready for election nights.

Cable and broadcast news outlets are bracing themselves for the possibility that it will take multiple days to determine the outcomes of Election Day races and are planning their coverage accordingly, Variety’s Brian Steinberg reported. That means round-the-clock coverage at some outlets, while others ensure staff are ready to break into normal programming at a moment’s notice to share important updates.

“I think you have to be ready to go through the entire week,” NewsNation president and managing editor of news and politics Cherie Grzech told Variety. “We will make sure we can sustain coverage throughout the week, 24 hours if necessary.”

During the 2020 presidential election, it took The Associated Press four days to call the race for Joe Biden. Many voters chose to cast their ballot by mail due to the pandemic, and those ballots took longer to count, leading to delays in race calls. Though the percentage of mail ballots this year may not reach the heights it did in 2020, both Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and former President Donald Trump’s campaign have encouraged supporters to vote early.

Election result delays this year may coincide with the spread of misinformation. In 2020, Trump falsely claimed that voting by mail was susceptible to fraud — a claim he repeated this year. Network executives told Variety they are prepared to address election misinformation through their coverage as viewers await results.

When results do come in, they’ll likely be delivered by each network’s most high-profile anchors — Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier at Fox News, for example, or Jake Tapper, Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper at CNN. MSNBC president Rashida Jones told Variety that Steve Kornacki “has a window if he needs to take a few winks,” and other staff will fill in during those lulls.

“Kornacki is going to be on the set when that big moment happens.”

By Angela Fu, media business reporter

Speaking of …

In case you missed it, Poynter’s Tom Jones spoke with Kornacki for the third episode of “The Poynter Report Podcast,” posted earlier this week. Consider it your 23-minute insider’s guide to what to look for on election night. If you trust Kornacki’s judgment — and I do — you might just be able to hit the hay a bit earlier on Nov. 5 with a pretty good idea of who will be the next president of the United States.

By Ren LaForme, managing editor

Media tidbits and links for your weekend review

• In yesterday’s edition of The Poynter Report, Tom Jones wrote about how the Los Angeles Times will not endorse a candidate for president this year, a decision seemingly made by owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, and that the editor of editorials resigned in protest. Well, The New York Times’ Katie Robertson shared an email from top editors Terry Tang and Hector Becerra to Los Angeles Times staff addressing the paper’s decision. “Endorsements are made at the owner’s discretion,” Tang and Becerra wrote, in part.
• A number of high-profile social media users, including actor Mark Hamill, said they were canceling their subscriptions over the Times’ decision. “I canceled our subscription to the LA Times because I want to make it clear that I am not okay with them being silent. In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up,” Hamill wrote. But the L.A. Times Guild put out a statement urging readers to reconsider canceling. “That subscription underwrites the salaries of hundreds of journalists in our newsroom,” the statement said.
• Also in yesterday’s Poynter Report, Tom Jones wrote about what the presidential candidates stand to gain by appearing on podcasts — a relatively new method they are embracing to reach audiences. But, David Bauder of The Associated Press writes, “By moving to podcasts, Harris and Trump are turning away from legacy media to spread their messages.” Bauder notes, “Among the legacy news outlets that have come up empty in their efforts to interview Kamala Harris and Donald Trump during the general election campaign: NPR, The New York Times, PBS and The Washington Post.”
• Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in a Pennsylvania town hall on CNN on Wednesday night. Brian Stelter writes that the program averaged at least 3.2 million viewers, according to preliminary numbers. Meanwhile, PolitiFact fact-checked some of Harris’ claims, including her statement that the “former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said (Trump) is ‘a fascist to the core.’”
• Bloomberg’s Amanda Mull writes about “The Print Magazine Revival of 2024.” “More publishers are discovering that magazines are now a luxury good,” Mull says.
• As the host of “All of It” on WNYC, Alison Stewart has a gift for speaking. But, one day last winter, she found she could only say gibberish. The New York Times’ Julie Besonen reports what happened next in “Her Job Was Talking on the Radio. Then Suddenly, Words Wouldn’t Come.”

More resources for journalists

• Our OnPoynt report offers a forward-minded look at the state of journalism and the news industry.
• Lead With Influence is for leaders who manage big responsibilities but have no direct reports.
• Encourage an outstanding colleague to apply for Leadership Academy for Women in Media.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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