CBS News fired four employees on Monday after an independent report critical of legendary anchor Dan Rather found a "myopic zeal" led the network to disregard basic journalism principles when it aired a faulty story on President George W. Bush's military service record. The panel was convened after a September 8, 2004, report by Rather on the "60 Minutes II" news program claiming Bush won special treatment in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
It found CBS failed to determine the accuracy of key documents used in the report.
CBS then waged a "strident" defence rather than probe the heart of the matter, it said. It allowed the same staff who produced the original report to produce follow-ups, it said.
"These problems were caused primarily by a myopic zeal to be the first news organisation to broadcast what was believed to be a new story ... and the rigid and blind defence of the segment after it aired despite numerous indications of its shortcomings," said the panel, headed by former US Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and Louis Boccardi, retired head of the Associated Press.
Twelve days after the segment aired, CBS News retracted it and Rather apologised. CBS said it had been misled about the chain of custody and provenance of key documents in the segment and said it was unable to stand behind them. The panel cast doubt on the documents but did not rule on their authenticity.
Rather, 73, later said he would step down as anchor on March 9, his 24th anniversary in the job.
The report found Rather, paid millions of dollars to serve as CBS News' top anchor and managing editor, "does not appear to have participated in any of the vetting sessions or to have even seen the segment before it was aired."
CBS said since Rather apologised and accepted some blame, "punitive action would be neither fair nor just."
In a conference call with reporters, Thornburgh said the report's authors had nothing to do with CBS' decision to fire four people.
He said Rather was "more culpable" of errors after the segment aired because he "exaggerated and somewhat misrepresented the findings of the experts and mischaracterised some of the corroborating evidence."
The CBS News segment relied on documents allegedly written by one of Bush's commanders, now dead. The panel said it had not determined whether the documents were real or forged. A White House spokesman said, "CBS has taken steps to hold people accountable and we appreciate those steps."
The scandal deals another blow to credibility in journalism, adding CBS to a list of media tainted by sloppy or false reporting. Other casualties have included The New York Times, USA Today, the BBC, Washington Post and CNN.
"This thing wasn't handled as it should have been, as to the sourcing, as to the authentication, as to trying to confirm the content of the documents," Boccardi told reporters. "It's just flawed journalism."
Leslie Moonves, chairman and chief executive officer of CBS and co-president of parent company Viacom Inc, said in a statement: "There were lapses every step of the way."
The panel found no evidence of "a political agenda" in the timing or content of the story, which ran ahead of November's US presidential election.
The panel blamed the trust placed in producer Mary Mapes, one of those let go, as well as a "vast deference" given to Rather and the decision to rush the story to air.
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