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CBS Purges Memogate Perps
CBS is erasing those responsible for Memogate.
The network's news division effectively fired four staffers Monday following the release Monday of an independent review that assigned blame for a 60 Minutes Wednesday report questioning President George W. Bush's military service.
The 60 Minutes piece, based on an apparently falsified memo, was quickly discredited, tarnishing the image of the so-called Tiffany Network and its lead news anchor, Dan Rather, who fronted and initially defended the segment.
"The combination of a new 60 Minutes Wednesday management team, great deference given to a highly respected producer and the network's news anchor, competitive pressures and a zealous belief in the truth of the segment seem to have led many to disregard some fundamental journalistic principles," says the report, which is printed in its 224-page entirety on CBSNews.com.
On the chopping block: senior vice president Betsy West, supervisor of CBS News prime-time programs; 60 Minutes Wednesday executive producer Josh Howard; and Howard's deputy, senior broadcast producer Mary Murphy, all of whom were asked to step down. Mary Mapes, producer of the segment, was fired outright.
Network boss Les Moonves appointed former Republican Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and retired Associated Press President and CEO Louis D. Boccardi to investigate the 60 Minutes story, dubbed Memogate for its dependence on a brief allegedly written by late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian. The memo, which says Bush did not take a required medical exam and claims Killian had to sugarcoat his evaluation of Bush, may or may not have been forged. But either way, Thornburgh and Boccardi said CBS News failed to authenticate the papers.
The report, delivered last week to the network, blames myriad issues, including "a myopic zeal to be the first news organization to broadcast what was believed to be a new story about President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service, and the rigid and blind defense of the segment after it aired despite numerous indications of its shortcomings."
Rather, who has taken some serious heat for the piece and his adamant defense of that report, did not receive any punishment for his role, but he was faulted by the panel for "errors of credulity and overenthusiasm."
Rather announced in November that he is stepping down as anchor of The CBS Evening News. He swears the retirement has nothing to do with the Bush incident. Even after he steps down, he will remain a correspondent for 60 Minutes Wednesday.
Also escaping punishment was CBS News president Andrew Heyward. Heyward is depicted by Thornburgh and Boccardi as demanding his producers to confirm every detail of the report, which he knew would be scrutinized. Moonves called Heyward "an executive of integrity and talent and the right person to be leading CBS News during this challenging time."
Though the panel did not believe the report was politically motivated, despite airing during the heated presidential race between Bush and John Kerry, Moonves was still apologetic.
"We deeply regret the disservice this flawed 60 Minutes Wednesday report did to the American public, which has a right to count on CBS News for fairness and accuracy," he said.
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