CBS Asks Consumerist To Change Headline On Kaley Cuoco/Dish Story

Earlier today, I posted a story about Dish Network’s allegations that CBS had made Big Bang Theory actress Kaley Cuoco remove a Tweet in favor of Dish’s ad-skipping Hopper DVR. Since then, I’ve received a request from CBS to change the headline on the post.

In an e-mail, a rep for CBS Communications wrote:

“Hi Chris- I see you have CBS’s statement, which is good. Given that there are two sides to this do you think it would appropriate to update your headline?”

To which I replied:

The headline is accurate. We make no stipulation in the headline or in the story that Dish’s claim is true. We merely report what Dish is alleging. Both sides of the story are presented in the post.

If CBS has a substantive explanation for why Ms. Cuoco’s Tweet is no longer available, I’ll gladly do an update to the story.

This led to the CBS rep simultaneously agreeing with the accuracy of the headline and suggesting a replacement:

“Right, it’s accurate – as is your first sentence, but one could argue not really fair. Our statement – which is the last line of your article – says no demands were made.

Your headline could just as easily be: CBS Responds to DISH claim: ‘No Demands Were Made’”

Perhaps the CBS rep does not realize that I and the other Consumerist writers do not work for CNET or any other CBS-owned company? Or maybe CBS doesn’t see the irony in asking Consumerist to change the headline on a story about allegations that it strong-armed one of its most high-profile actresses into removing a Tweet about a company CBS is suing.

We are still open to posting any further explanations that CBS, Ms. Cuoco, or any other knowledgeable parties might have for the disappearance of this particular Tweet. And unlike CBS’ ban on Hopper-related reviews, Consumerist will still continue to write about and link to CBS news stories.

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