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

Skip to comments.

CBS Fires Mapes
cbs radio news

Posted on 01/10/2005 7:02:45 AM PST by 1Old Pro

Report just issues, mapes finally fired


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2004election; 2004electionbias; 2004electionwrapup; abeershortofasixpack; abughraib; abuseofpower; activistactors; admissionofguilt; antiamericanism; antiwarmovement; attemptedcoup; axismikey; axissally; backfire; beginningoftheend; betsywetsy; bias; bigmedia; bsbingo; buckhead; buhbyemapes; bullzogby; burkettbackground; bushawol; bushcountry2; bushcountryii; bushhassers; bushhaters; bushkerry; bushwins; buzzaroundwashington; cbs; cbsblackeye; cbscheeseeaters; cbsmemosincrayon; cbsnews; cbssurrendermonkeys; civilwar2; civilwarii; condesceningliberal; culturewar; danmustgo; danratherbiased; danratherisamonkey; danratheroutout; dansfakerubuttal; davidhackworth; electiondaybias; electionengineering; electionnightbias; fakeandnotaccurate; fakebutaccuate; fakebutgoodenough; fakebutreal; fakedocuments; fakephotos; fired; fiveyearsisnthaste; forgedmemos; forgednews; forgedsources; forgethis; fraudulentreporting; goebbelswouldbeproud; granddefense; greatthreads; guiltyguiltyguilty; hackworth; hahadanny; hastalavistababy; havebeenoverheard; highrankingofficials; howtostealanelection; insidethebeltway; intentionalfraud; iraqwar; joelockhart; johnkerry; justbeforevoting; kerry; kerryisaschumck; kerryknew; keyword; leniriefenstahl; lieasyougo; lordhawhaw; lumpyriefenstahl; lyingliar; mapesgate; marymapes; mediabias; mediaelites; memogate; michaelmoore; mildredgillars; moveon; moveondotorg; myopiczeal; nationalguardmemos; nintyninepercenttrue; onebrickshyofaload; onepercentlies; pajamahadeen; pajamaparty; pajamapeople; pajamapeoplerule; planetofthemapes; pleaseididntknow; postelectionbias; powerghraib; powergrab; propaganda; propagandista; propagandists; quackmire; quagmire; rahtersgoals; rather; ratherandgobles; ratherbiased; ratherdiditall; ratherdidntknow; ratherdrovethis; ratherengineering; rathergate; rathergotcaught; ratherhatesamerica; ratherhatesbush; ratherisabuffoon; ratherisajerk; ratherisanidiot; ratherisarat; ratherisarealcommie; ratherisaschmuck; ratherisgone; ratherisinnocent; ratheristoblame; ratherknewitwaswrong; ratherlovescastro; rathermiatonite; rathernaive; rathernieve; ratheroutted; ratherpropaganda; rathersidea; ratherstupid; rathersuckedsadaam; rathersupportsobl; ratherwasunaware; reportingforduty; ridersonthestorm; robinrather; sacaficialdog; sacrificialidiot; saddamites; scapegoats; schadenfreude; scrificedanrather; seebsnews; selectivejustice; seniorofficials; sneeringliberal; socialist; somepeoplesay; sourmapes; superscriptgate; tedbaxter; thebiglie; thedraft; thepipesareacallin; tiffanynetwork; unconfirmedsources; usefulidiots; war; waronterror; waronterrorism; watercoolernews; whitewash; williamjoyce; zogbyism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 401-406 next last
To: 1Old Pro
From the other Breaking thread:

FROM CBS: CBS Ousts 4 For Bush Guard Story (entire story)
CBS ^ | Jan. 10, 2005, 2004 | CBS

Posted on 01/10/2005 9:06:39 AM CST by Former Military Chick

(CBS) Four CBS News employees, including three executives, have been ousted for their role in preparing and reporting a disputed story about President Bush’s National Guard service.

The action was prompted by the report of an independent panel that concluded that CBS News failed to follow basic journalistic principles in the preparation and reporting of the piece. The panel also said CBS News had compounded that failure with “rigid and blind” defense of the 60 Minutes Wednesday report.

Asked to resign were Senior Vice President Betsy West, who supervised CBS News primetime programs; 60 Minutes Wednesday Executive Producer Josh Howard; Howard’s deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy. The producer of the piece, Mary Mapes, was terminated.

The correspondent on the story, CBS News anchor Dan Rather, is stepping down as anchor of CBS Evening News.

The panel said a “myopic zeal” to be the first news organization to broadcast a groundbreaking story about Mr. Bush’s National Guard service was a key factor in explaining why CBS News had produced a story that was neither fair nor accurate and did not meet the organization’s internal standards.

The report said at least four factors that some observers described as a journalistic “Perfect Storm” had contributed to the decision to broadcast a piece that was seriously flawed.

“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, “ the report said.

The piece was aired during a tight and hotly contested presidential race between Mr. Bush and Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry. The timing of the story prompted charges of political bias against CBS News.

While the panel found that some actions taken by CBS News encouraged such suspicions, “the Panel cannot conclude that a political agenda at 60 Minutes Wednesday drove either the timing of the airing of the segment or its content.”

The story, which aired last Sept. 8, relied on four documents allegedly written by one of Mr. Bush's Texas Air National Guard commanders in the early 1970s, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who is now dead. Questions about the authenticity of the documents were raised almost immediately.

After a stubborn 12-day defense of the story, CBS New conceded that it could not confirm the authenticity of the documents and asked former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former Associated Press President Louis Boccardi to conduct an independent investigation into the matter.

Their findings were contained in a 224-page report made public on Monday. While the panel said it was not prepared to brand the Killian documents as an outright forgery, it raised serious questions about their authenticity and the way CBS News handled them.

The panel identified 10 serious defects in the preparation and reporting of the story that included failure to obtain clear authentication of the documents or to investigate controversial background of the source of the purported documents, retired Texas National Guard Lt. Col. Bill Burkett.

The producer of the piece, Mary Mapes, was also faulted for calling a Joe Lockhart, a senior official in the John Kerry campaign, prior to the airing of the piece, and offering to put him in touch with Burkett. The panel called Mapes’ action a “clear conflict of interest that created the appearance of political bias.”

The panel noted that the Guard segment was rushed on the air only six days after 60 Minutes Wednesday had obtained the some of the documents from Burkett and that preparation of the piece was supervised by a new management team of executive producer Josh Howard and senior broadcast producer Murphy.

A key factor in the decision to broadcast the piece was a telephone conversation between Mapes and Maj. Gen. Bobby Hodges, Killian’s commanding officer. Mapes told the panel Hodges confirmed the content of the four documents after she read them to him over the phone.

Hodges, however, denied doing so. He also told the panel he had given Mapes information that should have raised warning flags about the document, including his belief that Killian had never ordered anyone, including Mr. Bush, to take a physical.

Hodges said that when he finally saw the documents after the Sept. 8 broadcast, he concluded they were bogus and told Rather and Mapes of his opinion on Sept. 10.

“This alleged confirmation by Major General Hodges started to march 60 Minutes Wednesday into dangerous and ultimately unsustainable territory: the notion that since the content of the documents was felt to be true, demonstrating the authenticity of the documents became less important.”

Mapes’ telephone conversation with Hodges was part of a vetting process that the panel concluded was wholly inadequate, largely because it had to be done so quickly. The key executives vetting the piece were West, Howard, and Murphy.

After rushing the piece to air, the panel said, CBS News compounded the error by blindly defending the story. In doing so, the news organization missed opportunities to set the record straight.

“The panel finds that once serious questions were raised, the defense of the segment became more rigid and emphatic, and that virtually no attempt was made to determine whether the questions raised had merit,” the report concluded.

The panel believes a turning point came on Sept. 10, when CBS News President Andrew Heyward ordered Betsy West to review the opinions of document examiners who had seen the disputed documents and the confidential sources supporting the story.

But no such investigation was undertaken.

“Had this directive been followed promptly, the panel does not believe that 60 Minutes Wednesday would have publicly defended the segment for another 10 days,” the report said.

The panel made a number of recommendations for changes, including:

Appoint a senior Standards and Practices Executive, reporting directly to the President of CBS News, who would review all investigative reporting, use of confidential sources and authentication of documents. Personnel should feel comfortable going to this person confidentially and without fear of reprisal, with questions or concerns about particular reports.

Foster an atmosphere in which competitive pressure is not allowed to prompt airing of reports before all investigation and vetting is done.

Allow senior management to know the names of confidential sources as well as all relevant background about the person needed to make news judgments.

Appoint a separate team, led by someone not involved in the original reporting, to look into any news report that is challenged.

©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.


61 posted on 01/10/2005 7:19:44 AM PST by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ghitma

No, but neither is Rather. They should both have been axed.


62 posted on 01/10/2005 7:20:14 AM PST by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: dead

That panel probably couldn't conclude that OJ murdered Nicole either.


63 posted on 01/10/2005 7:20:16 AM PST by RushCrush (We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it.-Marge Simpson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: 1Old Pro

Has CBS RETRACTED the story yet?


64 posted on 01/10/2005 7:20:33 AM PST by mewzilla
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Brilliant
What a crock! What about Rather? Mapes is the scapegoat. Sounds like a good sex discrimination case. Fire the female underling, not the male supervisor.

Three women taken down along with one token man. Will the MSM take note?

65 posted on 01/10/2005 7:20:37 AM PST by CaptainK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Brilliant

Mapes was no scapegoat believe me, yes Blather should have been canned as well, but Mapes was on a witch-hunt for years to smear Bush.... she's not being scapegoated.


66 posted on 01/10/2005 7:20:55 AM PST by HamiltonJay
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Aquinasfan
It turns out I either misheard the MSNBC anchor reading off his wire copy or he misread the initial story: The report does not conclude absolutely the documents are fake.

Fairness to dem clause meaning one cannot ever outright find them to have conclusively done wrong invoked, evidently. /s

67 posted on 01/10/2005 7:20:56 AM PST by cyncooper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: traderrob6

I second that!


68 posted on 01/10/2005 7:21:26 AM PST by Polyxene (For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel - Martin Luther)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: 1Old Pro

Call em, folks:

CBS evening news room: 212 975 3691


69 posted on 01/10/2005 7:21:59 AM PST by Cosmo (Got wood?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: onyx

He'll harp on how the report backs up his contention it was all a horrible misunderstanding and nothing was found proving bad intent on their part.

I'm most displeased.


70 posted on 01/10/2005 7:22:00 AM PST by cyncooper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: Brilliant

Can it be long before Mapes is hired by CNN. They seem to have a particular propensity for filing false stories.


71 posted on 01/10/2005 7:22:04 AM PST by OldFriend (PRAY FOR MAJ. TAMMY DUCKWORTH)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: mewzilla
Has CBS RETRACTED the story yet?

Just remember, don't trust ANYTHING from CBS. I can't wait to hear how they spin this report.

72 posted on 01/10/2005 7:22:26 AM PST by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: 1Old Pro
From the actions report Download PDF FileOfficial CBS News reaction and actions taken:

"The Panel found that Dan Rather was pushed to the limit in the week before the September 8th broadcast. He was finishing up the anchoring job at the 2004 Republican Convention and was covering Hurricane Frances in Florida. He asked the right questions initially, but then made the same errors of credulity and over-enthusiasm that beset many of his colleagues in regard to this segment. He was convinced that the documents were authenticated because he was told in no uncertain terms that this was so. He defended the story over-zealously afterwards; again, he believed in a star associate with whom he had worked often, and to award-winning result. The Panel has found that his unwillingness to consider that CBS News and his colleague were in the wrong was a mistake, and that the broadcast would have benefited from a more direct involvement on Rather’s part.

"Dan Rather has already apologized for the segment and taken personal responsibility for his part in the broadcast. He voluntarily moved to set a date to step down from the CBS Evening News anchor chair in March of 2005, which will give him more time to concentrate on his reporting for CBS NEWS. After examining the report and thinking about its implications, we believe any further action would not be appropriate."
73 posted on 01/10/2005 7:22:35 AM PST by TomGuy (America: Best friend or worst enemy. Choose wisely.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TXBSAFH

Oh, I thought you wrote....call girl.


74 posted on 01/10/2005 7:22:57 AM PST by OldFriend (PRAY FOR MAJ. TAMMY DUCKWORTH)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: cbkaty

"Mapes is responsible for her report...scapegoat....I think not... The big question is did they clean house and send the message that CBS "wants" but has not "earned" the trust of the public. This scandal has forever tarnished this network. It will never recover."

You nailed it. Mapes is a grown woman and should be held responsible and accountable for her actions. Rather should be fired too, but I think CBS views him as an Icon that is tied into the networks reputation - hence the spin that he was "mislead".

The libs will still follow CBS. But as a news outlet, CBS will never again be taken seriously. Too little, too late.


75 posted on 01/10/2005 7:22:58 AM PST by Fenris6 (3 Purple Hearts in 4 months w/o missing a day of work? He's either John Rambo or a Fraud)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: MeekOneGOP

It's a long article. I must have missed the part that referred to Rather's "unimpeachable" source ...


76 posted on 01/10/2005 7:23:02 AM PST by WildTurkey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: 1Old Pro

77 posted on 01/10/2005 7:23:04 AM PST by maggief
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bilhosty
http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/complete_report/cbs_response.pdf

3. CBS News management must make it clear to all personnel that competitive pressure alone cannot be allowed to prompt the airing of a story. As the Panel points out, it would have been better to “lose” the story on the disputed memos to a competitor than to air it short of vetting to the highest standards of fairness and accuracy.

They STILL can't bring themselves to call them FAKE!!

78 posted on 01/10/2005 7:23:13 AM PST by OXENinFLA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: 1Old Pro

I don't know the other 3, but I'm so happy to see that Mary Mapes got the axe!


79 posted on 01/10/2005 7:23:38 AM PST by Amore (First, let's kill all the lawyers!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cbkaty

FoxNews is on this right now. Eric Burns of Fox News Watch says he agrees that Rather should not have been dismissed because Rather was "just the messenger". I thought he was the managing editor of CBS news.


80 posted on 01/10/2005 7:23:49 AM PST by Liberty Valance (Grateful Heart Tour 2005)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 401-406 next last

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.

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