Report: Network ignored journalistic principles in rush to be first
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC
Updated: 10:40 a.m. ET Jan. 10, 2005
CBS News has fired four employees, including three executives, for their roles in the broadcast of a disputed story about President Bush’s service in the National Guard, the network reported Monday.
The action followed an independent investigation, by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former Associated Press President Louis Boccardi, that found network failed to follow basic journalistic principles in preparing the piece.
The investigators reported that a “myopic zeal” to break the story about 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 224-page report not directly fault the correspondent on the story, CBS News anchor Dan Rather, who is stepping down in March.
The story, which aired on Sept. 8, relied on four documents allegedly written by one of Bush's Texas Air National Guard commanders in the early 1970s. Questions about the authenticity of the documents were raised almost immediately
The investigators also said CBS News had compounded that failure with “rigid and blind” defense of the report, which aired on the “60 Minutes Wednesday” news magazine.
Rather and the network stood behind the story for 12 days before conceding that the authenticity of the documents could not be confirmed and ordering the independent investigation.
A statement from CBS Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves detailing the network’s response to the investigation said that network executives had asked for the resignations of 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, it said.
Moonves said the investigators spoke with more than 66 people, including 32 from CBS News, handwriting experts, former Texas Air National Guardsmen and others in preparing their report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Watch NBC's Lisa Myers on Nightly News with a full report on the independent review of the broadcast.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6807825/
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