Black Eye at Black Rock!

Oh Danny Boy, the pipes they are a piping,
From net to net, they all do tell the tale.
The ratings they are gone now boyo and your credibility it is dying,
Oh Danny boy, can you ever read the news again!

Dan Rather’s week of hell came to an inglorious end Monday, when the CBS anchor took to his desk to issue a corporate and personal mea culpa. Having rushed onto air a story over President Bush’s National Guard service, the long time CBS icon was forced to recant part of his story due to “sourcing” troubles.

Rather admitting that his main source on the story lied to him resulting in CBS presenting a story not fully researched nor authenticated for truth. Rather then went on to say that CBS regretted airing the story.

With that Rather became the bloodied whale in the media ocean as pundits, politicians, late night comedians (including CBS’ own David Letterman) and other news services circled the carcass smelling blood.

Monday, September 20th will be one of those watershed days for CBS news, the day when it’s credibility as a major news gathering service was called into question. Allowed to be misled by a questionable source, the credibility of what was considered one of the best news services in the business is on the line.

The reaction by its media competitors has been swift and merciless. The controversy first came to light when a number of Bloggers (no doubt Republican) brought to light some glaring errors in the Rather piece. It was suggested that a simple examination of 70’s era typewriters may have killed this story long before air time. Something one would think a multi million dollar news service might have checked into. Another alarm bell involving faxes from a Kinko’s, which many screamed were questionable, didn’t ring any alarm bells on the smell o’ meter at CBS, and now the smell is sticking to their prime talent.

All major news services tackled the Rather controversy with CNN and Fox putting Rather through the wringer with their examination of the story. With his past run ins with the previous President Bush, Republicans have long been quick to suggest that Rather has a vendetta against the Bush family. Many have been calling for his head, feasting on the discomfort presently lingering around Black Rock. Anyone ever treated to a withering interview with Rather and his CBS compatriots is now suggesting that research is a long lost thought at the network.

His sloppy handling of this story has not aided his bid to appear as an objective reporter; instead with the rush to get the story to air it appears to be seen trying to capitalize on the current focus on the Bush rumours making the rounds. In fact as the story as reported by Rather was unravelling last week, Rather instead of double checking his facts went on the offensive, demanding that the President answer the questions. Which would be a legitimate purpose of a new gathering service, if only it were sure of it’s questions in the first place.

With the mess Rather finds himself in at the moment the ironic thing is that instead of putting a sitting President on the hot seat, the story has the ring of a hatchet job by a Democrat insider which should only go on to help Bush’s image. Even better for the Bush family, the apology by Rather on a story supposedly researched by a crack news team, will help deflect that other major bit of Bush whacking out there, the Kitty Kelley book: The Family.

You wonder just how many Americans will look at her book a little differently now. If Dan Rather can be hoodwinked on such an important story as this, then just how much credibility should one attach to the epic tome from Ms. Kelley. For the Bush’s the negative press from the last week suddenly gets a pass. More importantly the spin from the Republican party is going to be fierce now about any negative story. With such a massive breakdown in journalistic principles Rather and CBS may have inadvertently given the Bush forces a giant get out of trouble free card.

Rather than be annoyed at Danny, perhaps an invitation out to the Crawford ranch might be in order. His story has gone a long way, to possibly burying forever the National Guard mystery surrounding Bush. How many other news agencies are going to be willing to tackle that story now, lest they be compared to CBS or Kitty Kelley?

Even worse for Rather and his network, there will be a parallel drawn between the two controversies. Is CBS News apparently willing to use the same researching skills as an author know for her less than flattering character examinations? Is Rather the victim of a witch hunt? Or are there some serious problems that need to be addressed at CBS News?

It will be interesting to see if the CBS piece brings down the career of a news anchor instead of a President!