One last thought on the CBS response to the Killian memo debacle, prompted by CQ reader Jim in Chicago. After seeing its storied news division humiliated and its credibility destroyed from its false reporting and the subsequent lies and stonewalling that its team produced, what did CBS do to correct the situation? They fired the producer of the segment, demanded the resignations of a senior VP and two executive producers of the news show.

Last I looked, Andrew Heyward runs CBS News and Dan Rather is its managing editor. Neither one took any positive action to contain the damage or to uncover the fraud. Yet Les Moonves left both men employed with CBS News -- Rather in a new, prominent position and Heyward in place as its president. Are we to conclude that both men are empty suits with no real function, and therefore no responsibility? Or is CBS just offering us some lower-level players to mollify the public? Because as long as Heyward still runs CBS News, it appears to me that the same thing could easily happen again, through incompetence if nothing else.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The Buck Stops ... Back There:

» CBS Rathergate Report Released from Pajama Pundits
Pajamahadeen vindicated. Sorta. My initial response is mixed. Mary Mapes is getting the axe she earned, but I do not understand the reluctance to call the memos fake, or to acknowledge a political agenda. No 'courage' there. What agenda is [Read More]

Tracked on January 10, 2005 2:50 PM

» Work left undone from Citizen's Acumen
The fallout from this is that CBS leaves with its reputation besmirched, 60 Minutes disgraced, and the people responsible are either sacked in disgrace or tarred forever and thus easier targets for the next inaccuracies (I say next because with Heywa... [Read More]

Tracked on January 10, 2005 3:29 PM

» Finally... from Evilwhiteguy's Blog
The fallout at CBS over Memo-gate has finally happened. Mapes got fired, along with three executives. Which is nice, but Andrew Heyward still has a job. He should have been fired, too. [Read More]

Tracked on January 10, 2005 3:50 PM

» SeeBS Report from Flopping Aces
his report is quite extensive and the panel was obviously a little bit biased since they don't come out and call the network bias against Bush. This whole thing was because some on that network wanted to see Bush squirm, plain and simple but they hav... [Read More]

Tracked on January 10, 2005 4:23 PM

» Four CBS Employees Fired Over Rathergate and "Myopic Zeal" from La Shawn Barber's Corner
Heads rolled! These are what the consequences of sloppy journalism should be. In a failed attempt to smear George Bush, four employees at CBS were FIRED over their role in Rathergate:The action was prompted by the report of an independent panel that co... [Read More]

Tracked on January 10, 2005 5:01 PM