Shakeup at CBS News Following Erroneous Report on President George
W. Bush
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=2641
General Information
Source:
Creator:
Event Date:
Air/Publish Date:
NBC Nightly News
Brian Williams/Lisa
Myers
01/10/2005
01/10/2005
Resource Type:
Copyright:
Copyright Date:
Clip Length
Video News Report
NBCUniversal Media,
LLC.
2005
00:02:42
Description
An independent panel has determined that a CBS "60 Minutes II" report on President Bush's National
Guard service was full of errors. The panel says haste to get the story on the air led to an almost complete
breakdown of the basic journalistic process.
Keywords
CBS News, 60 Minutes II, President, George W. Bush, National Guard, Military Service, Investigation,
Independent Panel, Fact Checking, Reporting Errors, Dan Rather, Mary Mapes, Les Moonves, Richard
Thornburgh, Alex Jones, Louis D. Boccardi, Network News, Journalism, Liberal Bias, Sources,
Authentication, Haste
Citation
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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MLA
"Shakeup at CBS News Following Erroneous Report on President George W. Bush." Lisa Myers,
correspondent. NBC Nightly News. NBCUniversal Media. 10 Jan. 2005. NBC Learn. Web. 10 August
2015
APA
Myers, L. (Reporter), & Williams, B. (Anchor). 2005, January 10. Shakeup at CBS News Following
Erroneous Report on President George W. Bush. [Television series episode]. NBC Nightly News.
Retrieved from https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=2641
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"Shakeup at CBS News Following Erroneous Report on President George W. Bush" NBC Nightly News,
New York, NY: NBC Universal, 01/10/2005. Accessed Mon Aug 10 2015 from NBC Learn:
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=2641
Transcript
Shakeup at CBS News Following Erroneous Report on President George W. Bush
BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:
NBC News IN DEPTH tonight, a shakeup at CBS News. Four employees were fired today, including
three executives, after an independent investigation into the network's story on President Bush's National
Guard service. The panel found the report on "60 Minutes II" to be full of errors and said CBS' haste to
get the story on the air led to an almost complete breakdown of the basic journalistic process. Our IN
DEPTH report tonight from NBC's Lisa Myers.
LISA MYERS reporting:
The report says a "myopic zeal" to be first on a big story led to failures at every level. "Failure to
authenticate documents and check out sources. Inaccurate and misleading statements in the broadcast.
Failure by senior executives to properly vet the report." Then "a rigid and blind defense" after it aired,
compounding the damage. CBS President Les Moonves...
Mr. LES MOONVES: The appropriate steps weren't taken, and things were printed that were unfair,
untruthful and possibly not able to be substantiated.
MYERS: Despite longtime accusations of liberal bias at CBS, the panel, which includes a former
Republican attorney general, found no evidence this story was driven by a political agenda.
Mr. RICHARD THORNBURGH (CBS Report Co-author): We did find, however, an insensitivity to
appearances. Most of the sources of this story had a strong anti-President Bush agenda of their own.
MYERS: The panel also said producer Mary Mapes' contact with the Kerry campaign about the story was
"inappropriate" and created "an appearance of political bias." In fact, Mapes takes most of the blame.
She's accused of faulty reporting and repeatedly misleading colleagues, claiming the documents had been
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authenticated, and that the source who provided them was impeccable. Neither was true, according to the
report.
As for Dan Rather, the report says he was stretched too thin, and his enthusiasm clouded his judgment.
The report also reveals that Rather argued against issuing this apology but went forward at management's
request.
However, Rather later told investigators he still believed the story was true, and the documents authentic.
The panel found Rather's comments disavowing the apology to be troubling. Rather is stepping down as
anchor of the Evening News in March, and the report recommends no further sanctions.
Mr. ALEX JONES (Journalism Expert): I think Dan Rather has paid the price that this is going to be high
up in his obituary.
MYERS: Tonight in a statement, Mapes says she's terribly disappointed by the report, and shocked by the,
quote, "vitriolic scapegoating" by CBS officials, whom she says have placed ratings and political
considerations above journalism. Lisa Myers, NBC News, Washington.
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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