How CBS' Big Story Fell Apart

Los Angeles Times ^ | Jan 16, 2005 | James Rainey and Scott Gold

[John Jorsett]

Dan Rather was on the run, chasing big stories from New York to Florida to Texas and back to CBS headquarters in Manhattan. In less than a week: The Republican National Convention. A deadly hurricane. An interview for a blockbuster CBS investigation. Former President Clinton's open-heart surgery.

[snip]

Rather, 73, recalled somewhat vaguely that he had heard from his star producer that Burkett was a "straight-talking West Texan" with a reputation as a "truth teller." Had he turned to Google, though, the CBS anchorman would have found stories painting Burkett as something quite different: a highly controversial and disgruntled retired military man who had led the media astray before.

But Rather relied on the research of that producer, Mary Mapes, as both put their trust in Burkett. That fateful convergence helped produce a terribly flawed report that said President Bush shirked his military duty, a story that would backfire and cost Mapes and three others at CBS their jobs, while tarnishing Rather's storied career.

[snip]

How did it happen?

In a series of interviews and in the 224 pages of the independent panel's report, a portrait emerges of what is an inherently messy business — a television news operation "crashing" to quickly land a big story. The description of breathless news- hounds on the hunt might have been drawn from any of the nation's big newsrooms, were it not for a series of troubling patterns that ultimately crippled the CBS production, including: a glaring inattention to alternative points of view; the pronounced detachment of top news managers; and, especially, an extreme reliance on just one trusted individual to get the story right.

[Peach]

And then CBS appoints Thornburg to the panel to investigate this story.

One little problem. Thornburg works for CBS ... he is their lawyer. And if he finds bias on the part of the network, he has opened up his own client to litigation.

Major conflict of interest.

[Drango]

Good post, but Yawnnnnnnnnn....Nothing new in this article so why did the LATimes waste the ink? It's a rehash of what's been said ad nauseam for the last week or so.

[dirtboy]

In a series of interviews and in the 224 pages of the independent panel's report

That's part of the whitewash - the role that the bulk of the rest of the MSM is playing here. Very few are even questioning the term "independent panel" - when the panel was, as you noted, hardly independent and instead beholded to protect CBS's interests.

And there were two possible findings that could have led to criminal or civil investigations - that the documents were fraudulent and that the CBS employees deliberately tried to sway the election. Which is why the panel avoided reaching those conclusions despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

[dirtboy]

Good post, but Yawnnnnnnnnn....Nothing new in this article so why did the LATimes waste the ink? It's a rehash of what's been said ad nauseam for the last week or so.

It's all part of the MSM whitewash cycle.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

And apparently, it takes a 3 month investigation concluding with a several hundred page report to admit that "mistakes were made", "sources weren't adequately authenticated", and that CBS "rushed to run the story". They always talk vague and use a passive tone like the story fell out of the sky and CBS is at fault for not getting out of the way.

The bottom line is, CBS knowingly used forged military documents to fraudulently influence an election within 60 days of the vote. Dan Rather and his cronies should be charged in criminal court for this.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

And LIBERAL Los Angeles Times Media Critic DAVID SHAW still insists on telling us that...


RATHER's work 'Shoddy, Slipshod' not LIBERAL..?

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1227809/posts


NUTS

.

[Military family member]

According Fox Sunday Morning, Rather is standing by the stories, despite the report and the evidence against it.

[Drango]

MSM whitewash

The failure of the MSM to declare the documents forgeries, doesn't pass the giggle test.

[demkicker]

The bottom line is, CBS knowingly used forged military documents to fraudulently influence an election within 60 days of the vote. Dan Rather and his cronies should be charged in criminal court for this.

And don't forget to add that they should be forced to name WHO gave them this information! I hope to smell a Grand Jury soon...

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

That figures. It's the ole Klinton defense. The vaunted CBS news professionals are now professing that they don't know what makes water boil.

[theDentist]

In a series of interviews and in the 224 pages of the independent panel's report, a portrait emerges of what is an inherently messy business — a television news operation "crashing" to quickly land a big story.

The "independent panel" was hardly independent. Thornburg's law firm's biggest client is CBS! That's like having your own lawyer investigate you for misdeeds. They investigated, but due to lawyer-client privilege, certain facts would need to be buried in their client's best interest, wouldn't it?

[dirtboy]

The failure of the MSM to declare the documents forgeries, doesn't pass the giggle test.

A good amount of what they claim doesn't pass that test. They don't care. They are not about to admit their shortcomings, because it would force them to re-evaluate their core philosophies which they use to rationalize their lies, deceipts and omissions.

[jriemer]

One little problem. Thornburg works for CBS ... he is their lawyer. And if he finds bias on the part of the network, he has opened up his own client to litigation. Major conflict of interest.

Bears repeating. Once that the cat was out of the bag that the Memogate story was blatently fake, CBS's legal strategy (in hindsight) appears to be:

A) Announce an internal investigation
B) Hope that GWB would win
C) Hope that GWB's "new tone" would not prompt future legal action against CBS. Remember, he's the only one with standing and potential damages.

If GWB did sue CBS, they have points A, B (no actual damages), and the 1st amendment to start undermining any case. The rest of the MSM would rally behind CBS during the trial and it would be a big distraction from anything GWB want's to get done.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

why did the LATimes waste the ink?

Perhaps they suffer from the delusion that there are people who rely on LAT for news and informed opinion. Seriously, though, they have to cover the story and this article is about as anodyne as anything they could have run. It avoids factual mistatements and gross mischaracterizations, without attacking CBS' fig leaf of a report.

[Tacis]

You know, that was a very busy period for "news!" There were reports about men from Mars and, IIRC, concerns that a large meteor of krytonite was coming this way! [B]arbra [S]treisand!!!

Rather was trying a political hatchet job! He had done it before! My bet is that he was well paid to do it when he did. The Swift Boat Vets were peeling away some of Kerry's attempted secrecy and deception and the dems needed something FAST to take the pressure off! The forgeries had worked in Kerry's file (the Lehman citations) and would work in the endless attack on Bush's record. Of course the CBS lawyers would place the minimum blame possible and sacrifice underlings to divert attention from the real truths. It is what Willie did with Monica; why wouldn't such a crooked approach work for Rather?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Rather disavowed his apology. He's still employed. Nothing changed.

[EagleUSA]

Perhaps they suffer from the delusion that there are people who rely on LAT for news and informed opinion.
=======
Many do, who read the hard liberal rags...but we know that is not what they are gettting. How the RatherGate story was reported by all of them, bracketed them as to their extreme bias, to the extent of supporting and pandering to criminal acts of the left. Welcome to the left and their desperate and dangerous "anything goes" mentality. And the MSM just sings their song -- but I think it is a "swan song".

[bitt]

'The roar of condemnation aroused by CBS' use of unverified documents drowned out other news accounts that exposed Bush's spotty service as a young pilot.'

LATimes still pushing the story as true but unverified.

[ghostrider]

...C) Hope that GWB's "new tone" would not prompt future legal action against CBS. Remember, he's the only one with standing and potential damages.

It seems to me, that Presidential Election fraud on a massive scale damages a great many people, corporations, institutions, political parties and campaign donors. I realize those aren't your standard legal arguments, but this is not a standard legal case. Use of the media on such a massive scale is tantamount to an attempt to overthrow the US Government with a band of "Jack Boot Thugs."

[hflynn]

On page 140 of the CBS Independent Report:

Bush did state in his 1968 TexANG application that he did not volunteer to go overseas. However, Mapes had information prior to the airing of the September 8 Segment that President Bush, while in the TexANG, did volunteer for service in Vietnam but was turned down in favor of more experienced pilots.

This was deliberately buried in the middle of the report. CBS's investigation into itself is just as bias as the Rather/Mapes report. How many of the MSM gave the finding of the report that Bush volunteered to go to Vietnam the light of day?

[thoughtomator]

We know how it fell apart, we watched it happen in front of our very eyes. What we really want to know is, how was it put together in the first place?

[TruthWillWin]

And don't forget to add that they should be forced to name WHO gave them this information! I hope to smell a Grand Jury soon...

That should be the most important issue now. Someone created forged documents in an attempt to influence an election. That is a crime.

[demkicker]

Thanks, I'm glad to see someone puts as much emphasis on this as I do! Where's the outrage and demand that they give up the crook?

[Eastbound]

Even if the story were true, it was a non-story, and certainly not an issue that would warrant the attention and resources of CBS at such a critical period in the campaign. Just goes to show that they had nothing else in the bottom of the barrel against Bush, other than the fact that he poops in the woods the same as a bear when he goes hunting.

Really, really bad planning, CBS. 'Never attempt to kill a king unless you know you are going to succeed,' as the saying goes. Now you know why.

[Paradox]

'The roar of condemnation aroused by CBS' use of unverified documents drowned out other news accounts that exposed Bush's spotty service as a young pilot.'

This is what they don't get, or dont WANT to get. Bush's record is nothing out of the ordinary for an air guardsman at the time! The war is winding down and alot of guys were able to move around, doing what they wanted, getting out a bit early all while earning and honorable discharge.

[popdonnelly]

The LA Times is just figuring this out? The moral is that fake documents aren't facts.

[TruthWillWin]

Where's the outrage and demand that they give up the crook?,/I>

Good question. That outrage should start with CBS, they were allegedly duped. Their lack of outrage adds to suspicions that they have more to hide.

[MizSterious]

Although the news stories just barely scratch the surface of what went wrong, one very satisfying fact stands out:

The President still has his job. Four people at CBS no longer do, and Dan Rather's own job and reputation are in jeopardy.

But as to "what went wrong"--it comes down to one thing: the story wasn't true, and the "proof" was fraudulent. Had they stuck with the truth, they wouldn't be in this fix.

[DustyMoment]

As I predicted at the outset, the SeeBS "internal investigation" snagged a few small fish, but they didn't go after either Dandy Dan Blather or Andrew Heyward.

In case they haven't figured it out, corporate cultures flow from the top down, NOT the bottom up. SeeBS will continue along its merry, leftist ways and dandy Dan will get his cushy retirement with no punitive action taken for wrecking SeeBS' already unflattering reputation.

[demkicker]

Good question. That outrage should start with CBS, they were allegedly duped. Their lack of outrage adds to suspicions that they have more to hide.

I agree with everything you said except you need to substitute "proof" for "suspicions".

[wouldntbprudent]

It's a rehash for people like us, but for the average reader of the LA SLimes, there's probably something eye-opening about their "trusted" rag actually admitting CBS was flawed and biased.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

FIRE SUMNER REDSTONE!
The conspiracy of liberal bias starts at the top. And even beyond the top. Fire the money managers at the institutional funds who vote liberals onto media boards of directors. The Mapeses and Rathers and Moonveys will just be replaced by more of the same by people who have become major fat cats by pushing an agenda full of lies.

[John Jorsett]

Good post, but Yawnnnnnnnnn....Nothing new in this article so why did the LATimes waste the ink? It's a rehash of what's been said ad nauseam for the last week or so.

Probably a case of "everything's been said, but not everyone has said it."

[Kozak]

And apparently, it takes a 3 month investigation concluding with a several hundred page report to admit that "mistakes were made", "sources weren't adequately authenticated", and that CBS "rushed to run the story". They always talk vague and use a passive tone like the story fell out of the sky and CBS is at fault for not getting out of the way.

And is not amazing that with the rush and mistakes that were made, EVERY ONE of the "mistakes" were ones that made the story worse for Bush, and never mistakes that would have exonerated him. What are the odds of that eh? /sarcasm

[FreeKeys]

John Jorsett: '...other news accounts that exposed Bush's spotty service as a young pilot.'
Military family member: According Fox Sunday Morning, Rather is standing by the stories, despite the report and the evidence against it.
bitt: LATimes still pushing the story as true but unverified.
hflynn: How many of the MSM gave the finding of the report that Bush volunteered to go to Vietnam the light of day?
Eastbound: Even if the story were true, it was a non-story
Mis Sterious: But as to "what went wrong"--it comes down to one thing: the story wasn't true...

Sorry, SeeBS, even the "story" the phony documents are supposed to be about is phony  ____________________________

Find an overview of the FACTS about GWB's Texas Air National Guard Service at http://www.hillnews.com/york/090904.aspx

A summary of the salient points are at  http://boortz.com/nuze/200409/09152004.html#guard

STAUDT FINALLY SURFACES: DUBYA DID NOT GET SPECIAL TREATMENT AND "SUGAR COATING" WAS NEVER REQUESTED BY ANYBODY.  See http://snipurl.com/c1iu  and   http://snipurl.com/9bny

Ed Morrisey, the guy who swore W into the TANG weighs in here:  http://www.thedailytimes.com/sited/story/html/173996   (the paper's front page is at  http://www.thedailytimes.com/  )

Find this:  "The Air Force, in their ultimate wisdom, assembled a group of 102's [F-102 pilots] and took them to Southeast Asia. Bush volunteered to go.  But he needed to have 500 [flight] hours, but he only had just over 300 hours so he wasn't eligible to go,” Morrisey recalls. ... Despite that, Lieutenant Bush stayed busy. ... "He flew in active air defense missions, training missions.    Day, night, regardless of inclement weather," Morrisey says. ... Colonel Morrisey assured us that to the best of his knowledge Lieutenant Bush was treated like any other officer in the Texas Air National Guard. ... Morrisey says he considers himself to be more of a Libertarian than Republican or Democrat.  Nonetheless, Morrisey says he is voting for George Bush come election day. -- in BOTH printable version AND video clip at   http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2346701

See what Dubya's Wing Men (NOT boaters or yachtsmen, now, but FELLOW FIGHTER PILOTS) had to say (they were not in the SAME supersonic fighter plane with him, but they DID SERVE WITH HIM AND FLEW ALONGSIDE HIM) here: http://snipurl.com/6qkp

A Commentary by Col. John H. Wambough, Jr. USAF (Ret.) is at:  http://jb-williams.com/guest-kerry.htm

Major General Hodges says GWB didn't get preferential treatment, didn't need any, and besides, he's mad at CBS for misleading him here:  http://snipurl.com/a3y2

4 Eyewitnesses who saw GWB serving in Alabama are quoted and sourced HERE: http://snipurl.com/a3y3

See Exactly WHERE George W. Bush's TANG service fits in The REALLY Big Picture here:  http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=3919

And don't forget, IT WAS GWB who signed the Standard Form 180 asking that ALL his military records be released and JFK who DID NOT.  Physical exams were irrelevant to someone like GWB who'd already taken physicals and flown for 3 years and no more flying was required (on top of that, the F-102 had started to be phased out anyway); they were never considered worth writing him up for except in the FAKE memos, the source of which SeeBS refuses to identify.  

"In Texas in the late sixties and early seventies, it was so Democratic that no Republican had enough pull to have a parking ticket fixed [let alone get someone into the National Guard]." -- Robert, Lubbock, TX -- email to Fox NewsWatch, 9-18-04

Besides, Daddy Bush (GHWB) was only a junior Republican U.S. Congressman at the time and had absolutely NO influence in the LBJ/Barnes-dominated state government in Austin.   THE reason they took W was because the Texas Air National Guard didn't have enough applicants to be pilots at the time, while almost all the other services did.

Bush served HONORABLY, with multiple links HERE:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1230803/posts

"The [Texas Air National Guard] records released Tuesday also include orders for an August 1971 training mission in Canada, where Bush impressed his commanders. An evaluation written nine months later said Bush's 'skills as an interceptor pilot enabled him to complete all his ADC (Air Defense Command) intercept missions during the Canadian deployment with ease'." -- The Wichita Eagle, 10-5-04

Kerry's questions are answered here:  http://snipurl.com/a71g

This whole SeeBS fiasco was based on such an irrelevant non-story from the git-go that one can only presume there was a complete breakdown, or even lack, of standards and possibly, even malice aforethought, especially if you review the timeline of the SeeBS fiasco here:
http://snipurl.com/a3y6

Golly, it would have been nice to say, well, they both were irresponsible kids who got away with really, really bad stuff, but hell, it's all water over the dam, etc.  EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT IT TURNS OUT IF W GOT INTO ANY MISCHIEF, IT HAD NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH WHAT THEY'VE TRIED TO FRAME HIM FOR.  The NYTimes' and Flim Flam Dan Rather's claims that yes, the memos are fake, but what they say is true -- amounts to saying it's OK to fabricate and plant evidence if you think -- or at least hope --  someone's guilty.

As far as the documents go, their fraudulence PROVEN here: http://snipurl.com/c1k0 . 
See what a REAL Texas Air National Guard document from the '70s looks like HERE: http://www.geocities.com/bush_not_awol/document40.html

The latest attempt to prove the phony memos are "real" (this time by Utah Professor David Hailey), is shown to be yet ANOTHER fraud here:  http://wizbangblog.com/archives/003851.php

The Texas forgery code provides that publication of two or more fake government documents is a felony.  Follow the updates on CBS's tampering with the evidence in this crime HERE:  http://snipurl.com/9eqw   Further, there may have been a criminal conspiracy to use forged documents in an attempt to influence a Presidential election, a federal crime.

-- all from  http://freedomkeys.com/w-tangfacts.htm

[Allosaurs_r_us]

Many do, who read the hard liberal rags...but we know that is not what they are gettting

I am sure they know it too. They want it that way. There have been so many untruths proven during this election season that they have to know it. They just refuse to admit it. The DemonRats are never going to admit it. It blows there party out of the water. They don't know what to do. If they keep up the denial, it keeps them from having to come up with solutions. They only solutions available will require them to overhaul their party platform and hell will freeze over before that happens.

They would have to admit they are not the moral majority and that most Americans do not agree with them. That would drive a stake in the heart of the left wing lunatic base. It would be utter panic and send them into a disarray that I doubt they could recover from anytime soon.

There are, I believe, a heck of a lot of consevative Dems who are seeing this already and it is scaring the heck out of the powers that be who are supposed to be leading them. Unity in the party is going down the drain. I look forward to all the in-fighting we are likely to see in the coming months leading up to the elections in 2006. They are going to have to make some major changes if they expect to keep from losing more power in congress. I think they are scared to death.

[beyond the sea]

According Fox Sunday Morning, Rather is standing by the stories, despite the report and the evidence against it.

Rather is standing by the edge of the earth and evidence is he's ready to fall off.

[jriemer]

It seems to me, that Presidential Election fraud on a massive scale damages a great many people, corporations, institutions, political parties and campaign donors. I realize those aren't your standard legal arguments, but this is not a standard legal case. Use of the media on such a massive scale is tantamount to an attempt to overthrow the US Government with a band of "Jack Boot Thugs."

The voting public maybe indirectly affected by CBS's actions but damaging GWB, not us, was were not the intent of airing that report. GWB is the only party with direct, personal damage and even then, he has a hard case to make considering he's a public figure.

And yes, the CBS is expecting that GWB does the "new tone" thing so that they can "slime another day". Barring that, they will use the legal system and their MSM cohorts to protect themselves from the consequences of their political acts.

[foolscap]

I have not heard anything about Burkett since the election. Does anyone know what is happening with him since the time the story aired and now?

[hosepipe]

The POT calling the Kettle BLACK....

[Drango]

...Mapes, whose salary was pegged at $200,000 to $300,000...

OK, this was news and of some interest to me.

[bitt]

thanks...saved that as an html...

[Eastbound]

Excellent summary.

[Phsstpok]

Drango posted:

Good post, but Yawnnnnnnnnn....Nothing new in this article so why did the LATimes waste the ink? It's a rehash of what's been said ad nauseam for the last week or so.

and dirtboy replied:

It's all part of the MSM whitewash cycle.

Absolutely 100% correct.

This piece is all about excusing CBS in general and Dan Rather in particular.

Dan Rather was on the run, chasing big stories from New York to Florida to Texas and back to CBS headquarters in Manhattan. In less than a week: The Republican National Convention. A deadly hurricane. An interview for a blockbuster CBS investigation. Former President Clinton's open-heart surgery....Rather relied on the research of that producer, Mary Mapes, as both put their trust in Burkett.

Who could ever think that Dan Rather, sainted Dan Rather, the man who "got" Nixon and "fearlessly confronted" the EVIL George H W Bush about Iran-Contra, of doing anything biased?  It wasn't his fault.  He trusted Bill Burkett. 

a portrait emerges of what is an inherently messy business — a television news operation "crashing" to quickly land a big story. The description of breathless news- hounds on the hunt might have been drawn from any of the nation's big newsrooms

Yep, it's just that nasty pressure of business (they call it "messy" but they mean "evil" - all business is evil).

[EagleUSA]

If they keep up the denial, it keeps them from having to come up with solutions. They only solutions available will require them to overhaul their party platform and hell will freeze over before that happens.
======
You have nailed it. The denial for them is recognizing their lies as their reality. They are good at that -- in fact it is the essence of their whole utopian, valueless, narcissistic existence.

[Cosmo]

And doesn't McCain Feingold prohibit campaigns from running ads within 60 days of an election that challenge media reports? I had thought I read this somewhere.

[ultima ratio]

The Los Angeles Times, along with the Washington Post today, has no problem making excuses. To them the attempt to bring down a President on election-eve with a bogus story based on fraudulent documents was no big deal, just a kind of minor snafu. What WAS a big deal was that Bush as a young pilot thirty years ago may have cut some corner. Never mind that his opponent had sided with the enemy during wartime and had phonied up his military record--nobody they respected was interested in THAT.