You should be recommended for a Congressional Medal for this.
Posted on 01/11/2005 9:14:34 AM PST by srm913
Heads roll at CBS over Bush report Network's probe blames staffers' 'myopic zeal'
ANTONIA ZERBISIAS
Four big heads — but not the fat talking one called Dan Rather — are rolling at CBS.
The axings come after an independent study found "myopic zeal" was behind last September's questionable 60 Minutes Wednesday report on gaps in President George W. Bush's National Guard service records.
Yesterday, CBS announced that Mary Mapes, who produced the story about Bush getting "special treatment," was fired. Senior broadcast producer Mary Murphy, executive producer Josh Howard and Betsy West, who supervised CBS News primetime programs, have all been asked to resign.
Rather, who hosted the segment, stops fronting The CBS Evening News in March, but will stay at the network.
Although the Rather "made the same errors of credulity and over-enthusiasm that beset many of his colleagues," and "defended the story overzealously afterwards," said CBS chair Leslie Moonves in a statement, his quitting the anchor chair means "any further action would not be appropriate."
Moonves also announced changes in journalistic practices at the CBS News, which lags behind ABC and NBC in the ratings — although its 60 Minutes continues to be a top moneymaker.
The scandal, dubbed "Rather-gate" by the right-wing bloggers who attacked the Sept. 8 edition of 60 Minutes, focused on CBS's use of four unauthenticated memos detailing Bush's suspension from flying. One of the memos also stated that Bush's superiors were pressured from above to "sugar coat" his spotty service record.
Within hours of the memos hitting the air, the blogosphere erupted with debates about typefaces in 1972 and attacks on CBS's supposed "liberal bias."
But CBS defended the segment, and the story, which broke during a close and contentious presidential campaign, dominated the headlines until Rather reluctantly apologized Sept. 20.
Two days later, the network appointed an independent panel led by former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former Associated Press president Louis Boccardi, who deconstructed and dissected CBS's actions.
Their report runs 234 pages, not counting 47 exhibits and four appendices.
Although they were unable "to conclude with absolute certainty" as to the authenticity of the memos, they describe a "perfect storm" of factors that led to the seriously flawed segment. Among them: "the combination of a new 60 Minutes Wednesday management team, great deference given to a highly respected producer and the network's news anchor, competitive pressures, and a zealous belief in the truth of the Segment seem to have led many to disregard some fundamental journalistic principles ..."
But, adds the report, "(T)he `perfect storm' analogy cannot be used as an excuse. The fact is that basic journalistic steps were not carried out in a manner consistent with accurate and fair reporting, leading to countless misstatements and omissions in the reporting."
What made it all worse was that CBS News "compounded that failure with a `rigid and blind' defense."
As a result, the panel recommends that CBS create a new "Standards and Practices" person reporting directly to the president of CBS News, give up scoops if they can't be vetted "to the highest standards of fairness and accuracy," and keep senior management informed of the identities of any anonymous sources used in reports.
(All of which should be motherhood in this business. Indeed, it is policy at the Star, which will shortly name a new ombud to replace the recently retired Don Sellar. The only other ombuds in Canada are at CBC, which publishes its journalistic standards and practices on its website. There are no ombuds at any other TV network in North America.)
Despite CBS confessing to its screw-up, the conservative websites devoted to trashing Rather and the so-called "liberal media" were not satisfied.
Angry that the report dismisses alleged liberal bias as a factor, BoycottCBS.com founder Michael Paranzino posted his reaction which said, in part, "The reforms suggested by the CBS News-paid `independent' panel will help CBS News, but they will not solve the fundamental problem, which is that CBS News is dominated from page boy to president with Manhattan liberals who are out of touch with mainstream America."
"This is bigger than Dan Rather. This is bigger than CBS News. This is about the news and the new relationship — the conversation — journalism must learn to have with the public, or the public will go have it without them," noted media critic Jeff Jarvis.
CBS also came in for heavy criticism on U.S. cable news networks yesterday. Fox News, whose credibility is hardly unchallenged, ignored the tsunami, California flooding, bombings in Iraq and other big news in order to devote hours to CBS's "black eye."
Most of the top liberal weblogs were silent on the subject, preferring to zero in on "Payola-gate." (Enough with the "—gates" already!) It's the scandal — on which right-whiners are mute, by the way — exposed last week by USA Today.
It reported the Bush administration "paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote (an education) law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same."
Obsessed with the subject, blogger Oliver Willis notes: "In the rightie-verse, sloppy journalism by a past-his-prime anchor is more important that propaganda illegally fuelled by tax dollars.
"`Liberal media!' Ugga-booga!"
This right-vs.-left, is too! is not! media debate will go on for a long time. But wouldn't it be cool if somebody actually reported, based on solid journalism, exactly where Bush was in 1972?
I'll see your ugga-booga and raise you a neener-neener.
This "fox in the henhouse panel" made no mention of the memos being proven forgeries, because that would open a Federal probe into forging Federal records.
I see alot of heads rolling, but I don't see Heyward or Rather's heads rolling.
Liberals wonder why FOX News is gaining popularity. FOX News knows it's audience. What the writer fails to mention is how much time CNN initially spent on the Rathergate investigation report: 90 seconds
Fat talking head.
I read some of her articles and she is nothing but a socialist cretin. I just couldn't stand her.
Exactly. All the information I got about anything was from Fox News, ever since Canada got fox news, I've never watched CNN, MSNBC and I barely watched Canadian news.
Ugga-booga? Way KOOL...may change my tag line...
Antonia Zerbisias: No doubt a proud member of SCTV's Preteen World.
But reading Malkin would mean she had to have done real research about what our side is saying. As Mapes, et al., has shown: Why bother? Just skip that step.
Why hasn't the FBI been called in?
"...neener-neener."
Having been born in Michigan and living most of my life in Ohio, I had never heard this expression until I read it on FR. The equivalent expression I grew up with was, "Nya-Nya," or a five-fold repitiion of "Nya" rendered in a sing-song fashion. Do you happen to know in what parts of the country neener-neener is used?
What about Dan Blather's daughter who lives in Austin? Surely she isn't lilly white in this deal.
This lesbo pro Islamo/Bush hater ain't no lady.
You should be recommended for a Congressional Medal for this.
Somehow the axe missed the pencil neck of the pin head most culpable in this partisan witch hunt. Rather ironic.
We have become a very mobile and multicultured society-NYA NYA, neener, neener, goody, goody goody and shame, shame, shame, can show up almost anywhere these days.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.