The video of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis, the governor of Idaho, bans a ‘vaccine passport’ that has put ’60 minutes’ hit piece on DeSantis in a universal way. (R) that ’60 minutes’ used in his Sunday piece on Florida’s vaccination could be considered misleading, PolitiFact wrote on Wednesday.
“The ’60 minute ‘segment has left out the background to why Florida partnered with Publix to distribute coronavirus vaccines,” said PolitiFact. Daniel Funke written in an investigation into the controversy. ‘This failure could be’ misleading editing ‘, as some social media users have claimed. ”
“60 Minutes” did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Hill on the PolitiFact article.
The story, reported by Cary’s Sharyn Alfonsi, was a widespread critique of how coronavirus vaccines were distributed in Florida and highlighted how difficult it was for some people in at least one low-income area to get the vaccine.
But the most discussed part of the segment was the allegation that donations by the grocery store chain Publix of the campaign influenced DeSantis’ decision to distribute vaccines through the company’s pharmacies.
It was this particular claim, and the video clip “60 Minutes” used by Alfonsi that confronted DeSantis about his ties to Publix, it forced the show to defend the piece.
DeSantis and others, including Palm Beach County Democratic Mayor Dave Kerner, said the allegations of favoritism were a political smear and that ’60 minutes ‘deliberately edited DeSantis’ detailed account of the decisions behind where and when vaccines are distributed.
A 60-minute spokesman said editing videos for clarity was a regular exercise of the program and that the track accurately reflected DeSantis’ answer to Alfonsi’s specific question.
However, in its detailed account of the story, PolitiFact said that ’60 minutes’ did omit an important part of the DeSantis-Alfonsi interaction.
“DeSantis’ full answer to Alfonsi’s questions took about three minutes,” PolitiFact wrote. ‘While ’60 Minutes’ focused on his emphatic denial, it provided the background he provided on how the state worked with other retail pharmacies to distribute coronavirus vaccines in long-term care facilities in December, and its own interaction with Publix customers, focused. . ”
By omitting the explanation, the ’60 minutes’ story could qualify as’ misleading editing ‘under a definition used by The Washington Post, PolitiFact said; ‘Work out large sections of a video and present them as a complete story’ to ‘distort reality’.
PolitiFact ended the fact-checking by quoting Al Tompkins, a media commentator and senior faculty member of the Poynter Institute, which owns PolitiFact.
“In the story, there was a direct line between the contribution of the campaign and the rewarding,” Tompkins said. “And they never proved it. I think they owe it to everyone – they owe it to the governor, they owe it to Publix, they owe it to the public – to explain to us how they came to that conclusion. ‘
“Although it made interesting television, it did not make a complete truth,” he added.