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CBS Insiders are Worried - Investigation Ongoing

The New York Times reports that Betsy West, a top CBS news executive, has taken over the investigation of the forged memo scandal and Newsweek reveals that the network has directed substantial resources to investigate the controversy over 60 Minutes' use of forged memos to criticize the president.

Newsweek

Sept. 27 issue - CBS insiders are increasingly worried that the credibility of the network's news division has been grievously damaged by anchor Dan Rather's persistent defense of a story which relied on questionable documents about George W. Bush's National Guard service. "This has clearly hurt us," one veteran correspondent told NEWSWEEK. Network sources describe finger-pointing within the news division, with concerns greatest among "60 Minutes" producers, who fear the issue has tainted their entire program. While CBS News president Andrew Heyward has publicly backed Rather, the network has quietly assembled a team of additional producers to work the case. Rather is privately telling colleagues he remains "confident" that the story, and the memos, will be vindicated.

New York Times:

With its credibility on the line, the news division says it has redoubled its efforts to figure out whether it fell prey to a hoax and if so, who was behind it. Underscoring the importance of the task, Betsy West, a top news executive, has taken over the investigation and doubled the number of journalists working on it to 12 from about six, several people at the network said yesterday

[snip]

Several people involved in the reporting process said Mr. Rather and Ms. West flew yesterday to Texas, where they were to meet with at least one man who has been identified as a source for the report, a former Texas Air National Guard officer named Bill Burkett.

Despite an initial denial, CBS now admits that there is an investigation in progress (at least a team of experts who are investigating - if it looks like a dog and barks like a dog . . .). And, while the network now investigates one wonders what there is for them to examine? The memos were given to the CBS producer a few days before the broadcast by an unrevealed source [more]. There was no authentication and experts who questioned the documents were ignored. How difficult can it be to simply publish a retraction. The key documents were forged therefore the story is fake - not accurate.

Update:

A second question - why is Rather involved in the investigation? This is the problem that CBS has. Dan Rather should not be involved with the investigation at all. He can’t be trusted to tell the truth and he will be working to twist any new information into a favorable presentation for CBS [BlogsforBush].

Posted by tim at September 18, 2004 11:43 PM

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