United Kingdom-based newspapers accuse CBS of 'dishonest misrepresentation' during Oprah interview

Duke and Dutchess of Sussex share struggles during Oprah interview

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle discuss their difficulties on life inside the Palace bubble during a CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey. Fox News Channel senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot reports.

A group of United Kingdom-based newspapers accused CBS of taking headlines out of context during Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s highly publicized tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey during a “misleading montage” designed to deceive viewers.  

Associated Newspapers, publishers of Mail Online, the Daily Mail and The Mail On Sunday, sent a scathing letter to CBS accusing the network of presenting doctored and out-of-context images as headlines during the “Oprah with Meghan and Harry” special Sunday night.

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The letter sent Friday and obtained by Fox News began with CBS’ internal messaging about the network putting an emphasis on accuracy and integrity but notes the recent special didn’t meet the network’s standards.

“As a responsible broadcaster with integrity we believe therefore that you will deprecate, as we do, the deliberate distortion and doctoring of newspaper headlines in the misleading montage of British newspapers broadcast in ‘Oprah with Meghan and Harry.’ Many of the headlines have been either taken out of context or deliberately edited and displayed as supporting evidence for the programme’s claim that the Duchess of Sussex was subjected to racist coverage by the British press. This editing was not made apparent to viewers and, as a result, this section of the programme is both seriously inaccurate and misleading,” Associated Newspapers legal director Elizabeth Hartley wrote.

This image provided by Harpo Productions shows Prince Harry, from left, and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, in conversation with Oprah Winfrey. (Joe Pugliese/Harpo Productions via AP)
(AP)

Hartley wrote one of the most egregious examples was a headline “Meghan’s seed will taint our Royal Family,” that was shown during a montage.

“The original, unedited, headline in fact was a report of the suspension from UKIP of someone over this and other racist texts about Meghan. The headline you have broadcast is neither accurate nor could it be said to be an expression of ‘creative integrity.’ It is a thoroughly dishonest misrepresentation of a newspaper headline and article which was the opposite of racist. No one viewing the programme would have understood this from the montage,” Hartley wrote. “Associated Newspapers unquestionably supports freedom of speech and the First Amendment. We do not believe in seeking to stifle debate or criticism based on accurate facts. That is however demonstrably not the position in relation to this montage.”

The letter then claimed the CBS special’s creators “seemingly felt the need to create these headlines in the absence of evidence to support their point on a subject the ramifications of which are extremely important and damaging” and the result reflects poorly on producers.

“In light of the above, and given that these inaccurate statements have been the subject of prominent public analysis in the UK, we anticipate that you will already be taking steps to investigate the montage and address how it came to be produced. In the meantime it continues to be made available by you to viewers on demand. If you are not making enquiries, then you must do so, if you stand by the principles of accuracy and integrity which you espouse, and remove the montage from the footage without delay,” Hartley wrote before adding images of examples.

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Hartley also accused the show of misusing the word “‘niggling,” which she wrote is a common term in the United Kingdom.

“In conclusion, the programme in its current form, does not comply with the ViacomCBS editorial policies or align with its stated values. In terms of both accuracy and integrity, the programme is clearly compromised by the inclusion of this misleading montage,” Hartley wrote. “Accordingly, I should be grateful for your urgent confirmation that the offending content will be removed from the programme currently being made available to the public. We also understand that a further broadcast is being planned tonight. The montage should therefore be deleted prior to that broadcast.”

CBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment

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