Good morning . . .
The weekend providing little if any news. There were plenty of tsunami stories and storm stories from the West Coast, but little else of substance. I did notice, however, that tragedy and scare TV locally and nationally gave more time to the tsunami story than weather problems in the US. On Chicago stations the tsunami story received 7 to 12 minutes of time, the West Coast storms 2 to 3 minutes. I guess tragedy TV can relate more to big waves than 19 FEET of snow.
There is, however BIG News today that is just breaking. The long-awaited report on Rathergate has been released and CBS is taking action.
Four CBS staffers have been fired for their role in the creation of the story of President Bush's National Guard Service that aired on 60 Minutes Wednesday. The report says that "myopic zeal" led to the creation and airing of the now discredited story.
The network fired Mary Mapes, producer of the story, Josh Howard, the executive Producer of 60 Minutes Wednesday, Howard's chief deputy, Mary Murphy, and Senior Vice President Betsy West. The network did not, however, take any action against CBS News President Andrew Heyward nor any further action against Dan Rather.
CBS CEO Leslie Moonves said that Rather's (weak) apology and retirement from the anchor desk did not warrant any further action from the network.
The independent investigators - former Attorney General Richard Thornberg and Louis Biccardi, retired CEO of the Associated Press - could find no evidence of a political agenda driving the story. Obviously, the investigators were not aware of Mary Mapes' four year journey to get George Bush. Or did they just ignore that fact.
The report noted that the rush to break the story led to a report that was neither fair nor balanced and violated most CBS ethics and journalistic standards. Yet, there is no action against Heyward or Rather. CBS noted that no action would be taken against Heyward since he "explicitly urged caution."
The report further noted that the "strident defense" of the story by Rather, Heyward, and others compounded the damage done to CBS News's credibility. Again, the defense of the story by Heyward should be enough for action against him.
One of the staffers that was terminated by CBS, Betsy West, is a minor player in the Rathergate scenario. According to the report she was asked by Josh Howard to investigate the credibility of the memos, but failed to do so. When you consider her role compared to Rather and Heyward, you have to wonder why CBS has decided not to move against them.
So, far there is no information about changes recommended by the investigators or what CBS and CBS News will do to prevent "myopic zeal" in the future.
My guess nothing.
Yahoo! News - CBS Fires Four Staffers After Memo Probe
CBS News | CBS Ousts 4 For Bush Guard Story | January 10, 2005�11:02:25
The Supreme Court opens a new session today with many important cases on its agenda. Over the next several months the court will be hearing cases on prison terms, internet file-swapping, and drug patents.
The session will begin without Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Rehnquist is still recovering from treatment for thyroid cancer. The Chief Justice will be working from his home in Virginia, as well as, his office in the Court building. No announcement has been made about when Rehnquist will return to the bench.
The Court also announced today that it will not be hearing a case filed by former Presidential candidate Ralph Nader. The Court turned down Nader's appeal of a decision from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The PA Court upheld a lower court ruling blocking 6,000 signatures on Nader petitions. The court said that the while the signatures may have been from eligible voters, PA law says that signatures on a petition must be from registered voters.
Yahoo! News - High Court Declines Hear Nader's Case
For more stories on upcoming cases at the Supreme Court, follow the link below.
Yahoo! News - Politics - Supreme Court
I will be reading the CBS report into Rathergate. So, there may not be an Afternoon Update.
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