CBS fires four in fake Bush story fallout
{{date|January 10, 2005}}

[[CBS News]] dismissed four employees Tuesday, including three executives, in the aftermath of an investigation into a faulty news story about President [[George W. Bush]]. {{w|Dan Rather}}, who reported the story, is not included in these dismissals. 

The discharged employees were: Betsy West, senior vice president and overseer of CBS News primetime programs,  Josh Howard, ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' executive producer, Mary Murphy, senior broadcast producer and Mary Mapes, program producer. 

On Sept. 8, 2004 [[CBS]] presented in [[60 Minutes|60 Minutes Wednesday program]], a story  about President George W. Bush  {{w|Texas Air National Guard}} service during the {{w|Vietnam War}}. The news questioned Bush's commitment to service, saying he refused an order to appear for a physical exam and that Bush family tried to favour him. The news relied on four documents apparently written by  Lt. Col. Jerry Killian (already dead), Bush's Texas Air National Guard commanders in the early 1970s.

Critics said the documents were fake.  After standing its story for about 12 days CBS admitted they could not confirm the authenticity of the documents and asked former attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former {{w|Associated Press}} President Louis Boccardi to start  an independent investigation about it. 

The independent panel was not able to make any conclusions about the authenticity of the documents and found that political bias was not a factor, but it did criticize the producers for failing to follow basic journalistic principles when they made no attempt to verify their source's claims.

CBS President {{w|Leslie Moonves}} said about the matter: ''We deeply regret the disservice this flawed 60 Minutes Wednesday report did to the American public, which has a right to count on CBS News for fairness and accuracy.''
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== Sister links ==
{{sisters
|w|George W. Bush military service controversy
}}

== Sources ==

*{{source|url=http://www.fair.org/press-releases/cbs-memogate.html
|title=CBS 'Memogate' Fallout
|pub=FAIR
|author=
|date=January 12, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/10/national/main665975.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories
|title=CBS Ousts 4 For Bush Guard Story
|pub=CBS
|author=
|date=January 10, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-10-cbs_x.htm
|title=CBS fires 4 over Bush Guard story
|pub=USA Today
|author=Peter Johnson
|date=January 11, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/10/cbs.guard.ap/
|title=CBS fires 4 over Bush-Guard story
|pub=Associated Press
|author=
|date=January 10, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/11/business/media/11cbs.html
|title=CBS Dismisses 4 Over Broadcast on Bush Service
|pub=The New York Times
|author=Jacques Steinberg and Bill Carter
|date=January 10, 2005}}

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[[Category:January 10, 2005]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Television]]
[[Category:George W. Bush]]
[[Category:60 Minutes]]
[[Category:CBS]]
[[Category:CBS News]]
[[Category:North America]]
CBS News dismissed four employees Tuesday, including three executives, in the aftermath of an investigation into a faulty news story about President George W. Bush. , who reported the story, is not included in these dismissals. 

The discharged employees were: Betsy West, senior vice president and overseer of CBS News primetime programs,  Josh Howard, 60 Minutes Wednesday executive producer, Mary Murphy, senior broadcast producer and Mary Mapes, program producer. 

On Sept. 8, 2004 CBS presented in 60 Minutes Wednesday program, a story  about President George W. Bush  Vietnam War. The news questioned Bush's commitment to service, saying he refused an order to appear for a physical exam and that Bush family tried to favour him. The news relied on four documents apparently written by  Lt. Col. Jerry Killian (already dead), Bush's Texas Air National Guard commanders in the early 1970s.

Critics said the documents were fake.  After standing its story for about 12 days CBS admitted they could not confirm the authenticity of the documents and asked former attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former  President Louis Boccardi to start  an independent investigation about it. 

The independent panel was not able to make any conclusions about the authenticity of the documents and found that political bias was not a factor, but it did criticize the producers for failing to follow basic journalistic principles when they made no attempt to verify their source's claims.

CBS President  said about the matter: We deeply regret the disservice this flawed 60 Minutes Wednesday report did to the American public, which has a right to count on CBS News for fairness and accuracy.
January 10, 2005 United States Politics and conflicts Television George W. Bush 60 Minutes CBS CBS News North America