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Dan Rather Speaks, CBS Expresses Regret

CBS News said Monday it cannot prove the authenticity of documents used in a 60 Minutes story about President Bush's National Guard service and that airing the story was a "mistake" that CBS regretted. CBS News Anchor Dan Rather, the reporter of the original story, apologized.

Of note is that CBS is not saying the documents are forgeries or that their story was inaccurate. However, the network does state, "Burkett originally said he obtained the documents from another former Guardsman. Now he says he got them from a different source whose connection to the documents and identity CBS News has been unable to verify to this point." No further reference was made to the "anonymous source" that has been the topic of some discussion [see Kevin Drum]. Is this also the unimpeachable source?

Dan Rather, also says it was an a mistake made in "good faith". The question is faith in what? Why was he and the network so easily misled? Burkett is apparently his unimpeachable source despite a history of antagonism and admitted public exaggeration about Bush's military record. And, when will the anonymous source be addressed that has recently

I missed the public apology to the President of the United States whose character was impuned by a report based on forged documents. Perhaps this statement is on the way . . .

In a related article, "CBS said Burkett acknowledged he provided the documents and said he deliberately misled a CBS producer, giving her a false account of their origin to protect a promise of confidentiality to a source." [hat tip: BlogsforBush]. I've included CBS' public statement at the end of this post.

Additional reporting on the documents will air on Monday's CBS Evening News, including the interview of Burkett by Rather. CBS News pledged "an independent review of the process by which the report was prepared and broadcast to help determine what actions need to be taken."

Dan Rather's Statement (from Drudge):

Last week, amid increasing questions about the authenticity of documents used in support of a 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY story about President Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News vowed to re-examine the documents in question—and their source—vigorously. And we promised that we would let the American public know what this examination turned up, whatever the outcome.

Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers. That, combined with some of the questions that have been raised in public and in the press, leads me to a point where—if I knew then what I know now—I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question.

But we did use the documents. We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry. It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism.

Please know that nothing is more important to us than people's trust in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully.

Powerline Blog, in Staying Behind the Curve, concludes, "So Rather and 60 Minutes stay resolutely behind the curve. The significant part of the statement--"I no longer have...confidence in these documents"--could and should have been said on September 9. They still can't bring themselves to admit what everyone knows, that the documents are fakes."

Rathergate points to a CNN article dated Sept. 10:

"The story is true. The story is true," Rather said. "The questions raised in the story are serious and legitimate questions."

Rather denies there is any internal CBS News investigation under way -- a statement backed by the network.

Rather also said the possibility of issuing any kind of recant or apology was "not even discussed. Nor should it be."

Imagine what would have happened if someone who Dan Rather was investigating made this kind of flip-flop. The Washington Dispatch comments,

It’s not a mea culpa, it’s not even an apology--it’s just Dan Rather upset that he got caught. Sure Dan Rather does say that he “is sorry" but then he follows that with this sophomoric attempt of an excuse for presenting the public a fraudulent "report" with such obvious partisan reasons.... If Dan Rather continues to “report” CBS is finished.

Captain's Quarters has more, including

CBS now promises an independent review, about ten days too late, and has committed to a public release of the findings. But as long as the division president (Heyward), managing editor (Rather), and the producer (Mary Mapes) continue in their positions at CBS, their work will have no credibility whatsoever. CBS must fire Heyward, Rather, and Mapes, and must do so immediately, if it intends on rescuing its credibility.

Finally, I give you CBS' statement about Bill Burkett:

The following statement was issued by CBS News:

"Bill Burkett, in a weekend interview with CBS News Anchor and Correspondent Dan Rather, has acknowledged that he provided the now-disputed documents used in the Sept. 8 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY report on President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. Burkett, a retired National Guard lieutenant colonel, also admits that he deliberately misled the CBS News producer working on the report, giving her a false account of the documents' origins to protect a promise of confidentiality to the actual source. Burkett originally said he obtained the documents from another former Guardsman. Now he says he got them from a different source whose connection to the documents and identity CBS News has been unable to verify to this point. Burkett's interview will be featured in a full report on tonight's CBS EVENING NEWS WITH DAN RATHER (6:30-7:00 PM, ET/PT).

In light of this and other developments reported by CBS News and other news organizations, CBS News President Andrew Heyward issued the following statement: "60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY had full confidence in the original report or it would not have aired. However, in the wake of serious and disturbing questions that came up after the broadcast, CBS News has done extensive additional reporting in an effort to confirm the documents' authenticity. That included an interview featured on last week's edition of 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY (15) with Marian Carr Knox, secretary to the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, the officer named as the author of the documents; the interview with Bill Burkett to be seen tonight (20); and a further review of the forensic evidence on both sides of the debate. Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report. We should not have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret. Nothing is more important to us than our credibility and keeping faith with the millions of people who count on us for fair, accurate, reliable, and independent reporting. We will continue to work tirelessly to be worthy of that trust."

"CBS News and CBS management are commissioning an independent review of the process by which the report was prepared and broadcast to help determine what actions need to be taken. The names of the people conducting the review will be announced shortly, and their findings will be made public."

Remember the end of 'All the President's Men', where the news wire slams out a series of updates showing the Nixon administation's collapse? I keep picturing an equivalent sequence for the CBS news team [more from TruthLaidBear]

Update: from the Drudge Report

Andrew Heyward Internal E-Mail to CBS News Employees Mon Sep 20 2004 13:25:11 ET

Dear CBS News Colleagues,

Many of you have expressed understandable concern about the disputed documents used in the 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY report on President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.

Obviously, 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY had full confidence in the original report or it would not have aired. However, in the wake of serious and disturbing questions that came up after the broadcast, CBS News has done extensive additional reporting in an effort to confirm the documents' authenticity. That included interviews with Marian Carr Knox, secretary to the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, the officer named as the author of the documents; an interview with Bill Burkett, the former Guard officer who provided the memos to 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY; and a further review of the forensic evidence on both sides of the debate.

Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report. We should not have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret.

CBS News and CBS management are commissioning an independent review of the process by which the report was prepared and broadcast to help determine what actions need to be taken. The names of the people conducting the review will be announced shortly, and their findings will be made public.

Nothing is more important to us than our credibility and keeping faith with the millions of people who count on us for fair, accurate, reliable, and independent reporting. I know all of you work tirelessly to be worthy of that trust. I hope today's public statements about the documents are an important first step in restoring YOUR confidence in the standards and systems we have in place to ensure that we live up to our obligations to our viewers, listeners, and readers -- and to one another.

Thanks
Andrew

Update:

A response from the New York Post:

September 21, 2004 -- CBS and Dan Rather now want us to believe they were "misled." And it's likely they were misled in the days and hours before they aired the forged documents claiming, among other things, that George W. Bush disobeyed a direct order from his superior in the National Guard.

Posted by tim at September 20, 2004 10:49 AM

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