The 1619 Project (in the New York Times Magazine)

[David Lockmiller]

“All it will take is for the stigma of ‘controversy’ to attach itself to The 1619 Project before school districts will think twice about adopting it.” (Dr. Allen Guelzo, Princeton University Senior Research Scholar, in email to David Lockmiller, May 14, 2020)

The purpose of the American Revolution was not to protect the institution of slavery and President Abraham Lincoln deserves the reputation that he has achieved. America’s preeminent American History and Lincoln Scholars agree on both of these concepts.

As explained below, the current management of the ViacomCBS merger will not permit CBS “60 Minutes” to bring into question the “The1619 Project” interpretation of American History as a matter of self-interest. It should be noted that in recent years, the “60 Minutes” program has been accused of promoting books, films, and interviews with celebrities who are published or promoted by sister businesses, [such as CBS’s iconic book publisher Simon & Schuster]. (Source: Wikipedia)

It would appear that the ViacomCBS merger is in desperate need of cash to fund its future plans and have decided to place its iconic book publisher Simon & Schuster division on the auction block at this time to provide the funding. The major problem for such an auction is that there is a very limited number of prospective purchasers. According to the Los Angeles Times March 4, 2020 article, Simon & Schuster probably will be sold to another publishing firm looking to merge assets and create cost savings. Potential buyers may include Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp; the French company Lagardère Publishing; German media giant Bertelsmann, which now owns a 100% stake in Penguin Random House; or perhaps a private equity firm such as KKR, which has shown interest in digital publishing.

Most certainly, Bertelsmann and its Penguin Random House division would not appreciate a critical assessment of “The 1619 Project” being aired on “60 Minutes” at any time. As previously stated, Random House, a division of Penguin Random House, has acquired a multi-book series based on The New York Times Magazine’s acclaimed and groundbreaking special issue, “The 1619 Project.” And, perhaps more importantly, the Bertelsmann’s announced purchase of the remaining 25% stake in Penguin Random House is currently under regulatory review, also according to the March 4, 2020 Los Angeles Times article.

This is not a case of “any publicity is good publicity;” in this case, “any publicity is bad publicity” because the preeminent American historians are right and “The 1619 Project” historical premises are wrong. If “60 Minutes” were to air such a program featuring a number of these preeminent American History and Lincoln scholar historians condemning “The 1619 Project,” the ViacomCBS sales calls for the Simon & Schuster division to the German media giant Bertelsmann will probably, in all likelihood, not be returned. And, thereby, ViacomCBS’s plans to use the proceeds from the two sales, the landmark CBS headquarters building in Midtown Manhattan and its Simon & Schuster division, to pay down debt, pay dividends to shareholders and buy back stock, might be placed in “extreme risk” jeopardy because of this already very limited auction for purchase of the Simon & Schuster division.