Posted on 09/21/2004 3:17:21 PM PDT by kattracks
NEW YORK (Reuters) - CBS News faced new charges of journalistic impropriety on Tuesday, a day after the network said it regretted using questionable documents in a report challenging President Bush (news - web sites)'s military service.At issue was a report in USA Today that the source of the documents gave them to CBS only after the network agreed to arrange a conversation between the source and the presidential campaign of Bush's opponent, Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites).
Experts in media ethics said if the report were true, CBS may have overstepped the boundary between journalism and politics. The network said it would investigate the matter.
"It is obviously against CBS News standards and those of every other reputable news organization to be associated with any political agenda," CBS News said in a statement.
"As to what actually happened here, it is one of many issues the independent review will be examining," the network said, referring to a probe it announced on Monday as part of a dramatic about-face over the authenticity of documents.
After two weeks of defending the documents, which served as the basis for its Sept. 8 report, CBS News publicly acknowledged that it could not prove they were authentic.
Media experts said the affair had deeply damaged the credibility of CBS News, once home to anchor Walter Cronkite -- dubbed "the most trusted man in America."
LOCKHART SPOKE TO SOURCE
USA Today reported that the source of the documents, retired National Guard Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, agreed to turn them over to CBS if the network would arrange a conversation with the Kerry campaign.
Aly Colon, ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, said if that is the case, CBS News may have crossed the line.
"Credibility is critical to journalism and anything that a journalist does that raises questions ... about the integrity of the process undermines or potentially undermines the credibility of the report or the integrity of journalist bringing the report," Colon said.
In an interview with CNN, Kerry campaign aide Joe Lockhart confirmed that CBS had given him Burkett's number and he had had a conversation with Burkett days before the story aired.
Lockhart said they did not discuss the documents and Burkett used the conversation to offer his advice about how Kerry should run his campaign.
"I didn't know who the guy was. I talked to him on the phone for three to four minutes. That's the beginning and the end of the story," he said, adding that the Kerry campaign had "nothing to do" with the documents.
Burkett did not reply to a telephone call seeking comment.
Dan Rather, the anchor and top CBS newsman, who faces heavy criticism over the network's decision to air the story, was also not available for comment, his office said.
Bush has never fully accounted for his service during the Vietnam War, when he was given a coveted place in the National Guard while many of his peers were drafted and sent to fight in Vietnam.
The matter has dogged him during earlier political races but became more prominent this year as Kerry emphasized his own service as a decorated Navy officer during the war.
The four memos aired by CBS, purportedly written and signed by the late Air National Guard Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, said he was under pressure from his superiors to "sugar coat" Bush's service record after Bush, then a Guard pilot, was grounded for failure to perform up to standards or to take a physical.
WOW - with a history of not only supporting, but champoining, Democrats and the "Left" in politics for at least 20 years....and they can say its "against CBS News standards"?
They Can't Stop Lying!
Cronkite and the Klintons.
I would like to see Lockhart's phone records to see if he is telling the truth. (3 or 4 minutes?)
uh huh.
Nice to watch the implosion, in slow motion, like the demolition of a decrepit building...
Except we don't get music and fireworks, like when they wreck an old casino in Vegas!
>...punches still thrown at Bush from Yahoo news
To be fair to Yahoo, this is a Reuters story.
"Bush has never fully accounted for....."
If these authors are writing independently, then how come this line appears in EVERY article!
CBS has been programmed out of my TV and my radio presets for about a week. Too bad about the radio. As for the TV, I don't miss it at all, I never watch their crap anyway.
Time to send another batch of emails demanding Rather's (and his staff's) resignation.
Still chuckle over Brinkley's trashing of Clinton when he thought they weren't live. Classic..
Simply put, no guts.
CBS should face prosecution on federal charges. Forging military records is a crime, isn't it? I've seen it prosecuted on the state level (charged as "false official statement").
How come news organizations are so hesitant to say the facts, but instead have to say, "may have violated", "potential for conflict of interest", "appears to have".
CBS clearly violated all journalistic standards. (is what the title of this story should be)
Mea culpa..Yahoo carried it. But switch Reuters for Yahoo and the point still stands. Uh oh..I'm starting to sound like Rather..lol
"Source" has been held sacrosanct by the media. Epochal battles have been fought between the Government and the Press when the Press believes its right to protect a source is paramount to the First Amendment.
1. CNN basically camped outside Buckhead's house when his identity was discovered. If a "source" wishes to remain confidential, but the MSM considers it politically essential to discover the identity, how can they then justify keeping their own "sources" confidential if they engage in "outing" or harassing and intimidating sources of other stories?
2. The Rather interview with Burkett needs closer scrutiny. During the interview Burkett admits misleading CBS. Magical dust and PRESTO! CBS is off the hook because Burkett has just assumed criminal and civil liability for the whole affair.
At issue was a report in USA Today that the source of the documents gave them to CBS only after the network agreed to arrange a conversation between the source and the presidential campaign of Bush's opponent, Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites).
Experts in media ethics said if the report were true, CBS may have overstepped the boundary between journalism and politics. The network said it would investigate the matter.
bump for editorial
That's quite a stretch at this late date, referring to itself as a (heh heh) 'reputable news organization.' Appealing to its own authority for reputability is the final appeal of a guilty man. 'I didn't do it because I said I didn't do it.'
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