CBS whacks four employees
Who says CBS can't take responsibility for one of the biggest incidents of fraudulent journalism in our time? Why just today, word comes out that they've fired four people, including two receptionists, a mailroom clerk, and the street urchin who shines shoes in the lobby.
Okay, I made that last part up. Those terminated included Betsy West and Mary Mapes. It looks like some pretty serious brass were among the heads that rolled. (Three out of the four were women, but who's counting?) I wonder why it took four months to clean house? I guess they had to wait until Dan Rather was safely retired.
Comments
I tend to think that Dan Rather is also a casualty of the report, don't you? Does anyone really think that that "resignation" was something he really wanted? Yes, he's still an employee, but doing segments for "60 Minutes" is a far cry from anchoring the evening news.
Posted by: K | January 10, 2005 12:25 PM
I do, but I also think CBS went to extraordinary lengths to save Rather's face and reputation. They have a lot of brand equity tied up in ol' Dan at this point.
Posted by: Barry N. Johnson | January 10, 2005 01:23 PM
May I assume that you have similar outrage over Armstrong Williams taking illegal government payola to shill for Bush policies?
Yeah, I thought not. Because the law of the land now is IOKIYAR (It's OK If You're A Republican).
Posted by: Jill | January 10, 2005 02:07 PM
Jill obviously didn't scroll down the page...
http://www.cynicalnation.com/archives/2005_01.html#000746
Posted by: CRB | January 10, 2005 02:42 PM
I think Jill just has a problem with sites that are "reality based," such as this one. :-)
Posted by: Barry N. Johnson | January 10, 2005 02:43 PM
I just heard Hannity and Bernie Goldberg say that Rather is the last person in America who believes the documents were not forged.
Obviously they have never heard of our Jill.
Posted by: mal | January 10, 2005 04:59 PM
I wasn't sure if Barry was outraged over the revelation regarding Armstrong Williams or whether Barry was looking forward to a potential new revenue source. (Given that it turns out that two Anti-Daschle bloggers were secretly receiving money last year from the Thune campaign, this possibility is hardly far fetched.)
Regarding Mr. Rather, personally I think he should be canned precisely because the affair brought great discredit upon his profession. That said, the people protecting him may not be CBS as much as it is other influential news anchors, notably Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw, who have all come out strongly and publicly in Rather's defense. So I don't know if CBS made the decision as much to defend their investment in Rather as much as their hope to land a major personality to be his replacement. Rather, after all, had announced that he had planned to go, so, given that he was going anyway, I doubt that other top talent would've looked kindly upon CBS if they felt that the "suits" were needlessly humiliating one of their own.
Mary Mapes was a big producer and it is, after all, people like her that drive shows like 60 Minutes. My guess is that she will be working for Dateline before the Daffodils bloom.
Posted by: PE | January 10, 2005 06:47 PM
So this site is "reality based"? You mean like it's "based on actual events"?
Wow.
Posted by: PE | January 10, 2005 07:00 PM
Omg thats right! Please come see me and my friends! ;)
Posted by: watch moi | March 18, 2005 04:32 PM