Posted on 05/11/2013 2:20:19 PM PDT by Rennes Templar
One of the mainstream media journalists whose pursuit of the truth has been truly tenacious and nonpartisan is CBS News' Sharyl Attkisson. Her tough reporting has made life difficult for everyone from Hillary Clinton to the Bush administration and Congressional Republicans. She's also been relentless on the Obama administration's Fast & Furious gun-running scandal -- and, of course, Benghazi. As we mentioned this week, Attkisson's tough investigative journalism is starting to bother unnamed CBS News executives. Here's Politico's scoop, in case you missed it:
But from where Attkisson is sitting, there are actually two Goliaths, one of which is almost entirely absent from the Post profile. The second Goliath is CBS News, which has grown increasingly frustrated with Attkisson's Benghazi campaign. CBS News executives see Attkisson wading dangerously close to advocacy on the issue, network sources have told POLITICO. Attkisson can't get some of her stories on the air, and is thus left feeling marginalized and underutilized. That, in part, is why Attkisson is in talks to leave CBS ahead of contract, as POLITICO reported in April. Farhi mentions "internal conflicts" in the final paragraph, though he seems to dismiss them. The "internal conflicts" are indeed real -- Attkisson is still eyeing an exit, according to sources -- and provide important context for today's piece.
My analysis of this report was highly critical of CBS News. The network appears to be penalizing one of its best correspondents because she's doing her job too aggressively. Conservatives quickly imputed a political motive to CBS News' internal drama, but the Daily Caller has uncovered a connection that suggests there's a striking personal angle to this controversy, as well:
The brother of a top Obama administration official is also the president of CBS News, and the network may be days away from dropping one of its top investigative reporters for covering the administrations scandals too aggressively. CBS News executives have reportedly expressed frustration with their own reporter, Sharyl Attkisson, who has steadily covered the Obama administrations handling of the Benghazi terrorist attack in Libya since late last year...On Friday, ABC News reported that the Benghazi talking points went through 12 revisions before they were used on the public. The White House was intimately involved in that process, ABC reported, and the talking points were scrubbed free of their original references to a terror attack. That reporting revealed that President Obamas deputy national security advisor, Ben Rhodes brother of CBS News president David Rhodes was instrumental in changing the talking points in September 2012. ABCs reporting revealed that Ben Rhodes, who has a masters in fiction from NYU, called a meeting to discuss the talking points at the White House on September 15, 2012.
Well then. "CBS News executives" are wringing their hands that Sharyl Attkisson maybe "wading dangerously close" to advocacy on Benghazi. It's now entirely reasonable to ask if the top executive at the network may be "wading dangerously close" to a massive conflict of interest. Is David Rhodes trying to protect his brother -- who's just been revealed to be knee-deep in the Benghazi cover-up -- by muzzling and marginalizing a problematic journalist within his news division? Kudos to the Caller for shining the spotlight on that relationship, but it's amazing that no one connected those dots sooner. How many people in the elite MSM orbit are aware that Ben and David Rhodes are brothers? And they definitely are brothers, by the way; The New York Times confirmed that fact in a glowing profile of the younger Rhodes in March:
The son of a conservative-leaning Episcopalian father from Texas and a more liberal Jewish mother from New York, Mr. Rhodes grew up in a home where even sports loyalties were divided: he and his mother are ardent Mets fans; his father and his older brother, David, root for the Yankees. No one in that house agreed on anything, said David Rhodes, who is now the president of CBS News.
If Sharyl Attkisson continues to be relegated to the sidelines, or is even shown the door, at CBS News over her Benghazi coverage, the public must demand full disclosure about David Rhodes' role in that decision-making process. The Rhodes brothers' familial tie may be a bizarre, irrelevant coincidence. It's possible. But it's not a leap to suggest that this reeks of corruption and collusion.
I still think the video was planted on the Internet for nefarious reasons, since it was uploaded in the early summer of 2012. They knew something would probably happen on 9/11/12, like maybe the ambassador would be “kidnapped” in exchange for the blind sheik, or their gunrunning scheme to arm terrorists would go south and they would need a diversion. If the word to describe this administration was evil or stupid, I’d go with evil every time.
Ms. Atkisson might want to update her resume.
The Brother of Mr. Fiction is firing Ms. Truth:
A perfect encapsulation of modern DC, of the reasons for the rise of the Tea Party, and why the MSM is like a dinosaur amazed at the sight of the first snow.
IN 10 YEARS THERE WILL BE NO CBS NEWS.
She won’t be unemployed for long, though.
"But what difference does it make?!?!"
How it should end...
Journalistic integrity at its finest.
Corruption and evil personified.
Anyone wanting on or off this ping list, please advise.
I was doing that last night. I follow her on Twitter. Actually had a Twitter conversation with her a few months back and found her very politically agnostic..and very willing to take my views into account. She was very open to any and all views on the matter...which is fine by me. I don’t ask for anything from our media but a presentation of the facts. If an examination of the politics is needed for context in a story than both sides should be presented equally.
Well we sure know how to get someone’s attention when we’re p!ssed. I think she deserves our support now. She did a yoeman’s job on Fast and Furious and now on Benghazi and we should ;et her know it’s much appreciated.
Oh wow! That is almost as scandalous as when Paul Warburg (of Federal Reserve fame) was found to be a brother to the finance minister of Imperial Germany!
If CBS fires Atkisson, boycott CBS.
Always hire the right man for the write job!!!
The horror, The horror
Mistah Rather - He Clueless
Brilliant! That’s the funniest photo collage-montage I’ve yet seen on FreeRepublic! The first panel and the and the one with Scrubbin’ Hillary are comedy gold!
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