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The Camera Blinks A nation of fact-checkers, a network in denial.
opinionjournal.com ^ | September 17, 2004 | Byron York

Posted on 09/17/2004 6:18:44 AM PDT by Mike Fieschko

Over the years, Dan Rather has been fond of saying, "You trust your mother, but you cut the cards."

It's not a widely used phrase. In fact, a search of the Nexis database reveals that nearly every public utterance of it has come from Mr. Rather, who uses it to illustrate his accuracy-above-all-else newsman's creed. "It's just a journalist's way of saying, you check it out," he explained to NBC's Tim Russert in 1999.

These days, the CBS News anchorman is being accused of violating his own rules--of failing to cut the cards--by relying on apparently forged documents in the "60 Minutes" broadcast attacking President Bush's record in the Texas Air National Guard. But that's not really a completely fair accusation. Instead, it appears that Mr. Rather did indeed check and re-check the authenticity of the papers. The problem is that, when each check and re-check cast doubt, he decided to go ahead anyway. And when he was caught out, mostly by a legion of bloggers who seemed to know more about the subject than he did, Mr. Rather responded like a politician caught in a scandal, attributing partisan motives to his critics while ignoring most of the charges against him.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: napalminthemorning

1 posted on 09/17/2004 6:18:44 AM PDT by Mike Fieschko
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To: Mike Fieschko

"CBS was clearly angry that its judgment was questioned-- by nobodies! "You couldn't have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of checks and balances \[at the network\] and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing," said one former CBS executive who defended Mr. Rather.

Well, it turned out that the guy in his pajamas was right, at least this time. "

Go pajama people!


2 posted on 09/17/2004 6:25:05 AM PDT by SeeRushToldU_So (Shut up and sing. I don't care what you think.)
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To: Mike Fieschko

That is a good description. Rather acting more like a politician caught in a scandal. Sort of like someone shaking his finger in your face.


3 posted on 09/17/2004 6:29:16 AM PDT by Enterprise (The left hates the Constitution. Islamic Fascism hates America. Natural allies.)
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To: Mike Fieschko

But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of bloggers


4 posted on 09/17/2004 6:29:33 AM PDT by Semi Civil Servant (Edward R. Murrow, call your office.)
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To: SeeRushToldU_So
Free Republic and the rest of the blogosphere has tens of thousands of very keen minds that will analyze and dissect issues and facts. With this many minds working on an issue any falsehoods are quickly discovered.

CBS says they have been working on this story for 5 years. The blogosphere destroyed the story in about 5 hours.
5 posted on 09/17/2004 6:31:12 AM PDT by cpdiii ( Oil field trash ( and proud of it) turned pharmacist.)
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To: Enterprise
Seen on a blog yesterday:

You can't say 'well, the sentiments were correct.'

That's like saying to the bank, 'Well, he owed me money' after forging a check.
6 posted on 09/17/2004 6:34:59 AM PDT by Mike Fieschko ("Daddy, are there bad men on your planes?")
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To: Mike Fieschko
The gall of Rather is enormous. I'm sure you and most others realize the deep treachery of someone who uses documents that are "forged," and yet insists that even if they are forged, the sentiment in them is accurate. This is one of the most stunning pieces of yellow journalism I have been witness to in my life time. It is UNBELIEVEABLE!
7 posted on 09/17/2004 6:39:36 AM PDT by Enterprise (The left hates the Constitution. Islamic Fascism hates America. Natural allies.)
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To: Mike Fieschko
Here's the end of the article for everyone:

Will that quiet the storm? Not likely. The moral of it all is that it is infinitely more difficult for journalists to make questionable assertions in the age of the blogosphere than it was in years past. There is an army of well-informed fact-checkers out there, all connected on the Internet. There are people who know about things like computer fonts, or IBM typewriters circa 1972, or the arcane terminology of the Air National Guard. Pick a completely different subject, and there will be people who know about that, too.

CBS was clearly angry that its judgment was questioned-- by nobodies! "You couldn't have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of checks and balances \[at the network\] and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing," said one former CBS executive who defended Mr. Rather.

Well, it turned out that the guy in his pajamas was right, at least this time.

Don't you just love it! Private Pajamapants reporting for duty, sir!

8 posted on 09/17/2004 6:42:06 AM PDT by thingumbob (Kerry/Edwards are sKerry/Leftwards)
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To: Mike Fieschko
How typical of the elite Democrats/elite media; to think there is no one outside of New York City or Washington D.C. who has the intellect to see a document and determine that it is a forgery.

It's either one of two things - either the 'masses' are smarter than given credit, or the forgery was so bad that complete idiots could catch it. Which is it, CBS?

9 posted on 09/17/2004 6:46:42 AM PDT by TexasNative2000 (When it's all said and done, someone starts another conversation.......)
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To: Mike Fieschko
And to think ol' Dan had to resussitate a corpse of a woman to bolster his story. But he didn't realize that by his relying on her corroboration, his story becomes ever weaker.

Consider this. Rather identified Marian Knox as Col. Killian's secretary. She told Rather that she never typed the memos that CBS is relying on, but the sentiments contained in them were correct. Rather asked if she had typed other similar memos and she agreed that she had. But why?

Why do you suppose the Colonel didn't trust the competence of his own secretary? Why would a man who didn't type, go to the trouble of duplicating himself, a task that he had delegated to his secretary? Why would CBS go to the trouble of relying on obvious forgeries when legitimate documents, ostensibly, exist?

10 posted on 09/17/2004 6:49:19 AM PDT by Sgt_Schultze
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To: Mike Fieschko

"a search of the Nexis database reveals that nearly every public utterance of it has come from Mr. Rather, who uses it to illustrate his accuracy-above-all-else newsman's creed."

What people want is sincerity. When you can fake that, you've got it made.

-Groucho Marks (paraphrased)


11 posted on 09/17/2004 7:00:30 AM PDT by Spok
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To: Mike Fieschko
Well, it turned out that the guy in his pajamas was right, at least this time


"At least this time". He almost gets it, but not quite.

Who is more likely to get it wrong, a small self selected group (a reporter and his fact checkers) or 50,000 indiviudals who have a wide range of experience and knowledge?

I think the internet is going to act like a gyroscope, and help bring the media back into line, where they do not dare do more then report facts, and their opinions will be labeled as such.

We all owe Dan Rather a big thank you for going to the wall on something so trivial, and clearly wrong, it is easy to decide who is lying and who is not. He will have his legacy, and it will not be bringing down another President (remember Nixon), it will be for opening he crack in the dyke that has protected big media all of these years.

Thanks Dan, we could not have done it with out you.

12 posted on 09/17/2004 7:04:36 AM PDT by CIB-173RDABN
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To: cpdiii

The more CBS opens it collective mouth the more lack of collective braintrust these people demonstrate.

Can they actualy be so naiive as to not understand just how many combined experts, Ph.D. MDs., LLDs, teachers, researchers, industrial pioneers, investment bankers, wall street gurus, history profs, political science consultants, etc. are active on these sites. Not to mention is it is the pajama people would foot the bill for any "service" industry like CBS. To insult the very people they depend upon to stay in business, has rarely been shown to be a saavy business strategy.

Viacom has few morons to cull it would seem.

They really should fear and respect these kinds of forums because they cannot hold a candle to them.


13 posted on 09/17/2004 7:07:45 AM PDT by rod1
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To: Mike Fieschko
You can't say 'well, the sentiments were correct.'

That's like saying to the bank, 'Well, he owed me money' after forging a check.

That's one analogy. I think a better one would be this: after people started dropping dead from poisoned Tylenol tablets, what if McNeill (the manufacturer) had gone after the victims to show that most of them deserved to die.

(steely)

14 posted on 09/17/2004 7:10:51 AM PDT by Steely Tom
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To: rod1

Polymathic autodidacts placemarker.

;^)


15 posted on 09/17/2004 7:14:56 AM PDT by headsonpikes (Spirit of '76 bttt!)
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