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As far as I can tell, not a single MSM Outet conducted anything more than a cursory examination of John Kerry's service record despite clear indications that all as not as Kerry said it was.

Let's be fair. The New York Sun and Chicago Sun Times printed a series of articles from freelance reporter Thomas Lipscomb regarding Kerry's military record. And the cable news networks (especially Fox News and to a lesser extent MSNBC) gave extensive coverage to the Swift Boat Vets and their allegations. Even the Washington Post and ABC devoted significant time to investigating part of the Swiftee's allegations. We may not have liked the results of Nightline's Vietcong visit, but at least they attempted to do further investigation. And I actually found the Washington Post's factual research into the Swiftee's charges refreshing.

But CBS made absolutely no attempt to examine John Kerry's service record. Instead, 60 Minutes and CBS gave significant airtime to authors of anti-Bush books, the Abu Ghraib prison abuse "scandal" (which the military was already investigating) and the President's national guard record. Heck, Mary Mapes had significant contact with not only the Kerry campaign, but also some of the same anti-Bush political hacks (Linda Starr of Opinion Journal and Paul Lukasik) who tried to push the Bush-was-AWOL story in conjunction with the DUmmies' good friend, "Black-Box Voting" Bev Harris in November 2000.

Given the company Mapes kept, there's no question in my mind that she and SeeBS news were biased.

DUmmies' good friend, "Black-Box Voting" Bev Harris

I seem to recall hearing that Harris tried "fundraising" through DU without DU's permission and is no longer welcome.

BWHAHAHAHA! I love liberal crooks ripping off liberals.

OTOH, I really should pass on the "look at what the DUmmies are up to" threads on FR. :)

But in that same spirit of being fair, it was essentially surface reporting with little investigative reporting. Sure, lots of outlets covered the SBVfT but only after the controversial first commercial and even then, it was more about the group itself and its message. IIRC, their first press conference pretty much went unreported. In each of the cases you sited, there was little or no follow-on. Any revelations were left hanging and no one saw fit to dig deeper. We had John Kerry saying he would release his records yet the form 180 still remains unsigned.

No, on a comparative basis, there was no investigation of John Kerry's military service, not even to clear him! And why do you think that might be? IMHO it is because the articles you mention, the SBVfT commercials, the Nightline trip to Potemkin, even Kerry's own statements gave clear indications that there was a problem and that further investigation could only lead to trouble.