Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: blogblogginaway; EllaMinnow

I have Lexis-Nexis. I'm only posting about the first-quarter of the article, but this is the important part about the false memo. Mapes wasn't mentioned.


The Washington Post - April 13, 1999, Tuesday, Final Edition

HEADLINE: Another '60 Minutes' Apology on a Drug Smuggling Story

BYLINE: Lisa de Moraes

BODY: For the second time in four months, CBS's "60 Minutes" has made an on-air apology regarding a report about drug smuggling. This time it's over a memo that turned out to be bogus.

Correspondent Lesley Stahl delivered the apology on Sunday's broadcast, as part of a settlement with a customs official who had sued the newsmagazine.

In December, "60 Minutes" founder Don Hewitt apologized on-air for a June 1, 1997, story based on a British documentary about smugglers who swallowed heroin in latex gloves to get past authorities. An investigative panel later determined that the documentary producers had faked locations and paid actors to portray drug couriers.

In Sunday's apology, Stahl emphasized that the April 20, 1997, segment accurately reported on the flow of illegal drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border at San Diego.

But that report, which was presented by Mike Wallace, cited a memo said to be written by Rudy Camacho, the San Diego district director of the Customs Service, calling for customs agents to quickly process trucks owned by a company linked to Mexican drug cartels.

The Customs Service in Washington investigated and found the memo to be fake, and that no preferential treatment was offered, Stahl said. "60 Minutes" had already reported in February 1998 that the memo was declared bogus. But Camacho sued; the on-air apology was part of an "amicable settlement" between him and CBS News, a "60 Minutes" spokesman said.

"We have concluded that we were deceived, and ultimately so were you, our viewers," Stahl said. "Under the circumstances, we regret that any reference to that memo or to Mr. Camacho's connection with it was included in our original report and apologize for any harm to Mr. Camacho's professional reputation and any distress caused to him and his family."

(snipped)


29 posted on 09/11/2004 10:41:45 PM PDT by Tamzee (Free Republic .... Partisan Pajama People)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: Howlin

Look at previous post...

Article from Lexis-Nexis about 60 Minutes using a fake memo in the past.

They used the memo in an April 1997 story that discredited Customs. Customs investigated and proved memo false. 60 Minutes finally admitted in February 1998 that the memo was fake (but never apologized).

The person trashed in the memo had to SUE to get an apology on the air, which 60 Minutes finally gave him TWO YEARS AFTER THE STORY RAN in April 1999.


30 posted on 09/11/2004 10:47:17 PM PDT by Tamzee (Free Republic .... Partisan Pajama People)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson