http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6807825/
The CBS News story relied on four documents, including this one allegedly written by one of Bush's Texas Air National Guard commanders in the early 1970s, that some experts later said were forgeries.
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 4:58 p.m. ET Jan. 10, 2005Four CBS executives were fired Monday following the release of an independent investigation that said a myopic zeal led to a 60 Minutes Wednesday story about President Bushs military service that relied on allegedly forged documents.
The 224-page report by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former Associated Press President Louis Boccardi does not directly fault anchor Dan Rather. Rather announced in November that he will step down as anchor of "CBS Evening News" in March, but said the timing had nothing to do with the investigation.
While the investigation found the network failed to follow basic journalistic principles in preparing the "60 Minutes Wednesday" piece, it said it found no evidence that a political agenda by network officials contributed to the decision to air it.
Myopic zeal
The investigators found myopic zeal to break the story and faulted the highly respected producer of the segment, Mary Mapes, in explaining why CBS News had produced a story that was neither fair nor accurate and did not meet the organizations internal standards.
The combination of a new 60 Minutes Wednesday management team, great deference given to a highly respected producer and the networks 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," it said.
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 to raise questions about whether he had fulfilled his obligations. Questions about the authenticity of the documents were raised almost immediately, with some experts saying that it appeared they were written on a computer not invented at the time.
Although the panel said it couldn't prove conclusively the documents were forged, it said CBS News failed to authenticate them and falsely claimed an expert had done so when all he had done was authenticate one signature.
A statement from CBS Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves detailing the networks 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; and Howards deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy. Mapes, the producer of the piece, was terminated, it said.
In assessing Rather's role in the debacle, the report said the veteran anchorman "does not appear to have participated in any of the vetting sessions or to have even seen the segment before it was aired." It noted that he was busy overseeing coverage of the GOP convention and Hurricane Frances in Florida at the time.
Moonves said in his statement that Rather "asked the right questions initially, but then made the same errors of credulity and overenthusiasm that beset many of his colleagues in regard to this segment."
Given Rather's apology and announcement that he was stepping down, Moonves said further action against Rather was not warranted.
CBS staff was also slow to respond, the panel said. It said CBS apology, issued nearly two weeks after the report aired, unfairly pinned too much blame on Burkett and not enough on its own failures.
Two days after the report, Heyward ordered West to review the opinions of document examiners and confidential sources who had supported the story but no such investigation was done, Thornburgh and Boccardi said.
Had this directive been followed promptly, the panel does not believe that 60 Minutes Wednesday would have publicly defended the segment for another 10 days, Boccardi and Thornburgh wrote.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: CBS has taken steps to hold people accountable and we appreciate those steps.
CBS News president urged caution
CBS News President Andrew Heyward kept his job. The panel said Heyward had explicitly urged caution before the report aired.
The report also said CBS News had compounded the failure to properly vet the report with a rigid and blind defense. 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.
The report cited documents purported to be from one of Bush's commanders in the Texas Air National Guard. The documents say the commander, the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, ordered Bush to take a medical exam and the future president did not. Killian also reportedly felt pressured to sugarcoat an evaluation of then 1st Lt. Bush.
The panel said Mapes had misled her superiors about the documents and the background of her source, retired Texas National Guard Lt. Col. Bill Burkett.
CBS News executives relied too heavily on Mapes, who only months earlier had broken the story about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and had been investigating Bush's National Guard service since 1999. Howard, who had begun supervising "60 Minutes Wednesday" in June, gave too much deference to her and Rather, the panel said.
Fired producer doesn't comment
Reached at her Dallas home Monday, Mapes said: "I haven't seen the report yet, so I won't be saying anything until I do."
The investigators also noted that Heyward ordered West two days after the report aired to review the opinions of document examiners and confidential sources who had supported the story, but said no such investigation was done.
"Had this directive been followed promptly, the panel does not believe that `60 Minutes Wednesday' would have publicly defended the segment for another 10 days," the panelists 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.
Following the independent investigation, CBS News appointed one of its executives, Linda Mason, to a newly created job of senior vice president of standards and special projects. It will be her job to thoroughly review everything about an investigative report before it airs.
Jeff Fager, executive producer of "60 Minutes" on Sunday, will oversee the Wednesday broadcast as well for the rest of the TV season.
CBS is part of media conglomerate Viacom Inc., whose shares were up 22 cents at $38.30 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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.
The CBS News story relied on four documents, including this one allegedly written by one of Bush's Texas Air National Guard commanders in the early 1970s, that some experts later said were forgeries.
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 4:58 p.m. ET Jan. 10, 2005Four CBS executives were fired Monday following the release of an independent investigation that said a myopic zeal led to a 60 Minutes Wednesday story about President Bushs military service that relied on allegedly forged documents.
The 224-page report by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former Associated Press President Louis Boccardi does not directly fault anchor Dan Rather. Rather announced in November that he will step down as anchor of "CBS Evening News" in March, but said the timing had nothing to do with the investigation.
While the investigation found the network failed to follow basic journalistic principles in preparing the "60 Minutes Wednesday" piece, it said it found no evidence that a political agenda by network officials contributed to the decision to air it.
Myopic zeal
The investigators found myopic zeal to break the story and faulted the highly respected producer of the segment, Mary Mapes, in explaining why CBS News had produced a story that was neither fair nor accurate and did not meet the organizations internal standards.
The combination of a new 60 Minutes Wednesday management team, great deference given to a highly respected producer and the networks 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," it said.
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 to raise questions about whether he had fulfilled his obligations. Questions about the authenticity of the documents were raised almost immediately, with some experts saying that it appeared they were written on a computer not invented at the time.
Although the panel said it couldn't prove conclusively the documents were forged, it said CBS News failed to authenticate them and falsely claimed an expert had done so when all he had done was authenticate one signature.
A statement from CBS Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves detailing the networks 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; and Howards deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy. Mapes, the producer of the piece, was terminated, it said.
In assessing Rather's role in the debacle, the report said the veteran anchorman "does not appear to have participated in any of the vetting sessions or to have even seen the segment before it was aired." It noted that he was busy overseeing coverage of the GOP convention and Hurricane Frances in Florida at the time.
Moonves said in his statement that Rather "asked the right questions initially, but then made the same errors of credulity and overenthusiasm that beset many of his colleagues in regard to this segment."
Given Rather's apology and announcement that he was stepping down, Moonves said further action against Rather was not warranted.
CBS staff was also slow to respond, the panel said. It said CBS apology, issued nearly two weeks after the report aired, unfairly pinned too much blame on Burkett and not enough on its own failures.
Two days after the report, Heyward ordered West to review the opinions of document examiners and confidential sources who had supported the story but no such investigation was done, Thornburgh and Boccardi said.
Had this directive been followed promptly, the panel does not believe that 60 Minutes Wednesday would have publicly defended the segment for another 10 days, Boccardi and Thornburgh wrote.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: CBS has taken steps to hold people accountable and we appreciate those steps.
CBS News president urged caution
CBS News President Andrew Heyward kept his job. The panel said Heyward had explicitly urged caution before the report aired.
The report also said CBS News had compounded the failure to properly vet the report with a rigid and blind defense. 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.
The report cited documents purported to be from one of Bush's commanders in the Texas Air National Guard. The documents say the commander, the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, ordered Bush to take a medical exam and the future president did not. Killian also reportedly felt pressured to sugarcoat an evaluation of then 1st Lt. Bush.
The panel said Mapes had misled her superiors about the documents and the background of her source, retired Texas National Guard Lt. Col. Bill Burkett.
CBS News executives relied too heavily on Mapes, who only months earlier had broken the story about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and had been investigating Bush's National Guard service since 1999. Howard, who had begun supervising "60 Minutes Wednesday" in June, gave too much deference to her and Rather, the panel said.
Fired producer doesn't comment
Reached at her Dallas home Monday, Mapes said: "I haven't seen the report yet, so I won't be saying anything until I do."
The investigators also noted that Heyward ordered West two days after the report aired to review the opinions of document examiners and confidential sources who had supported the story, but said no such investigation was done.
"Had this directive been followed promptly, the panel does not believe that `60 Minutes Wednesday' would have publicly defended the segment for another 10 days," the panelists 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.
Following the independent investigation, CBS News appointed one of its executives, Linda Mason, to a newly created job of senior vice president of standards and special projects. It will be her job to thoroughly review everything about an investigative report before it airs.
Jeff Fager, executive producer of "60 Minutes" on Sunday, will oversee the Wednesday broadcast as well for the rest of the TV season.
CBS is part of media conglomerate Viacom Inc., whose shares were up 22 cents at $38.30 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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.
