CBS Conduct, Handling of Memo Story Condemned

Experts on journalism and journalistic ethics continue to criticize Dan Rather and CBS News for their handling of apparently fabricated memos used in a "60 Minutes II" story disparaging President Bush’s military record. They are also condemning CBS News for acting as a "matchmaker" between the source of the phony documents and John Kerry’s Presidential campaign. The following are some of their comments:

Bob Zelnick, Chairman of Boston University’s Journalism Department:

"It’s a devastating event for CBS, not only because they made serious editorial mistakes, but also because they responded in a totally arrogant fashion for the last two weeks, when they turned their guns on their critics rather than quickly investigating and owning up to the problems with these so-called documents."

Van Sauter, Former President of CBS News:

"This was a story of consequence. The failings were pronounced. An hour after the story appeared, people began to mount credible evidence of its shortcomings. It took CBS 13 days or so to reach that conclusion. CBS must now hustle to gain the high ground."

Marvin Kalb, Veteran Journalist, Media Critic and Senior Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University:

"I think it’s going to hurt the credibility of the media and certainly tarnish Dan Rather’s reputation."

Howard Kurtz, Media Critic and Industry Reporter for the Washington Post:

"An examination of the process that led to the broadcast, based on interviews with the participants and more than 20 independent analysts, shows that CBS rushed the story onto the air while ignoring the advice of its own outside experts, and used as corroborating witnesses people who has no firsthand knowledge of the documents."

Morley Safer, 30-Year Veteran of the Sunday Evening — and Original — Edition of "60 Minutes":

"It’s inconceivable this would have made it on the air on the Sunday show."

Wall Street Journal Editorial:

"This raises the question of whether CBS was a vessel for, if not a willing participant in, a partisan dirty trick two months before a closely contested Presidential election."

Bob Lee, General Manager of WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, and President of the CBS Affiliates Association:

"Somewhere along the way, somebody got really sucker punched in this."

Alex Jones, Director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University:

"I don’t really see why it took so very long. But now that they’ve acknowledged they made a mistake, I think they owe it to us to tell us why it happened and how it happened."

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