home

CBS: Rather Producers Lawyer Up Against Network

Rathergate is back in the news. The New York Observer reports that Josh Howard, Betsy West and Mary Murphy, the producers asked to resign after the release of the independent report on Dan Rather's infamous '60 Minutes Wednesday' segment on President Bush's National Guard service, are not leaving. Instead, they have hired lawyers and are contemplating legal action against CBS for breach of contract and possibly, defamation.

After the 224 page report (pdf) was released on January 10, CBS President Leslie Moonves publicly criticized executive producer Josh Howard in this statement(pdf). Short version, according to the Observer:

Mr. Howard, Mr. Moonves said, "did little to assert his role as the producer ultimately responsible for the broadcast and everything in it. This mistake dealt a tremendous blow to the credibility of 60 Minutes Wednesday and to CBS News in general." The producer, he wrote, had been asked to resign, and the network was "taking a variety of actions to put this crisis behind us."

Howard reportedly has demanded a retraction.

Sources close to Mr. Howard said he believes that the report—which was assembled by an outside team of former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and former Associated Press head Louis Boccardi Jr.—contradicts Mr. Moonves’ statement about Mr. Howard’s share of the blame.

Mr. Howard also believes, those sources said, that the report itself excludes evidence that would implicate top management at CBS and restore Mr. Howard’s reputation in the television news business.

Two prominent New York lawyers say CBS has potential exposure if Howard sues for defamation:

Jay Goldberg, a civil litigator who has represented Donald Trump, said...if a chief executive made public statements about employees that cannot be supported by facts—i.e., by the narrative of the Thornburgh report or, worse, other unreported material—it could open the company up to trouble. "They were very foolish to go public with an attack on these people, because they lose their immunity to be sued for defamation," Mr. Goldberg said. "Whereas if they had put these very same things in court paper, they could not be sued."

First Amendment expert Martin Garbus says:

....Mr. Moonves’ statement may well give Mr. Howard grounds for a defamation suit. "He has a claim," said Mr. Garbus. "Anything that they say bad about him, and that impugns his reputation in the business in which he’s in—basically, they’re saying that he’s incompetent. That’s not opinion, that’s specifically stating. One way in which you protect yourself from libel is that you always say ‘in my opinion.’ But [Mr. Moonves] didn’t say it. He’s saying, ‘The producer did this, the producer did that.’"

CBS disputes Howard's allegation that he told CBS to stop stonewalling after the segment aired. If a lawsuit is filed, Howard reportedly will go after Moonves and other brass at CBS as to their role in standing by the story after it aired.

There's problems for both sides. There's also problems with report. The investigators' interviews inexplicably were not recorded and the subjects were not allowed to take notes. The report doesn't conclude the documents were false. The report finds that that CBS News President Andrew Heyward gave the go-ahead to the segment the day before it aired and viewed it an hour before airtime.

There's probably plenty of blame to go around. And dirty laundry. A lawsuit means both sides will seek all the e-mails of everyone involved. That will be damaging to CBS. On the other hand, even if Moonves is found to have mis-stated the facts about Howard's role and responsibility for the segment, it could still be a long time before Howard regains his reputation in the journalistic community.

Ron Reagan, Jr. and Monica Crowly will be discussing these developments today on their new 5:30 p.m. (ET) MSNBC show, Connected Coast to Coast. Hugh Hewitt and I will be providing some commentary.

< Police Chiefs to Study Stun Gun Usage | A Shield Law For Reporters >
  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


  • Display: Sort:
    Oooh this is going to be good to watch! Go Moonves, give em hell!

    Re: CBS: Rather Producers Lawyer Up Against Netwo (none / 0) (#2)
    by roy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 01:47:03 PM EST
    I'm all for firing people over the bogus report, but what I really want to know is exactly who made the fake documents.

    That will be interesting when the subponeas start to fly. I guess they can't get anything from the White House after the Cheney decision, but the bloggers who popped up 2.317 minutes after the report aired should be fair game! Cranky

    What's the Cheney decision?

    et al - Parnoia thy name is Leftie. Still trying to act like this was all a Rovian plot to trap CBS and embarass the Demeos. Know what guys and gals? Let us ASSUME that is correct. (And it is not.) They couldn't have trapped'em if Rather and company hadn't just wanted of so badly to get Bush in any way they could. An old confidence game saying: You can't steal from an honest man.

    Re: CBS: Rather Producers Lawyer Up Against Netwo (none / 0) (#6)
    by roy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:17:49 PM EST
    PPJ, what are you on about? That theory was never taken seriously outside the likes of the Democratic Underground forums. I don't like much about the mainstream left, but at least they didn't pull any conspiracy theories out of their collective ass on this one.

    I love it. Let's keep this story front and center. Yeah, the liberal media is just a myth (lol).

    How come none of you gasbags are not mad about the Niger Uranium fake report that took us to war as you are about cbs?

    Re: CBS: Rather Producers Lawyer Up Against Netwo (none / 0) (#9)
    by roy on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 03:45:21 PM EST
    isame -- Ironically, that report seems to be fake but accurate. Bush was also acting on independent British intelligence. Prof. Reynolds puts it better than I would.

    CBS is about to find out what happens when you appoint the fall guy instead of having him volunteer. Moonves and Rather are the ones responsible for this; Rather because he wanted to nail Bush so badly he was willing to ignore the obvious problems with his sources and Moonves because he was too stupid to step forward and admit they had made a mistake immediately. Mary Mapes will be suing next.

    What liberal media?

    Interesting. Of course, it was never proved that the documents were faked. It's possible that we may find out in court exactly what the NG did do after George W. Bush went AWOL.

    Re: CBS: Rather Producers Lawyer Up Against Netwo (none / 0) (#13)
    by Kitt on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 05:01:33 PM EST
    Now, how is this possible? "Ironically, that report seems to be fake but accurate. Bush was also acting on independent British intelligence. Prof. Reynolds puts it better than I would." No, any report regarding Iraq seeking 'the goods' from Niger was not accurate. This administration is so disconnected from reality and veracity , and certainly in regard to ANYTHING in dealing with Iraq. And - going after Iran is going to be a hell of alot more difficult than Iraq. They haven't been constrained by embargos, sanctions, daily bombings, a narcissistic sanity-challenged dictator for the last two decades. They actually have an army and are about 2.5 times bigger than Iraq. But keep going with that fake but accurate crap...we're on the way to saving the world - or ending it.

    Re: CBS: Rather Producers Lawyer Up Against Netwo (none / 0) (#14)
    by ras on Wed Feb 16, 2005 at 05:01:55 PM EST
    Jesurgislac, Sure it was proved that the docs were faked. That's why the Left then had to dub them "fake but accurate" (to the delight of the Right).

    Ironically, that report seems to be fake but accurate.
    The documents about Bush may have been fake but were accurate.

    Barbara - Would you like some fake but accurate $20.00 bills? How about some fake but accurate hamburger meat? JL - Yes, it was proven. Andn if you think it wasn't, do you believe CBS went through what it went through because they weren't? Dude, if you believe that, you are out there in the ether. I am lol at the Left continuing to make themselves look dumb.

    Yes, the right is a bastion of truth seekers. "There’s an awful lot we don’t know and that we may never know, and we have got to think differently about standards of proof here...these people have made absolutely clear what their intentions are, and we know a lot about their capabilities...", Paul Wolfowitz, 2002. In summation, "let's jump to judgement." Funny how fickle Conservatives can be about information.

    TS - Of course`the Right isn't a bastion of truth seekers. Neither side is. But sometimes you just have to look around and say, "Know what? Beating on Bush over "x" (you insert the subject)isn't working because it hasn't been proved after 5 years and the other side is making us look like fools." Pick the your fights. Saves time, money and skin.

    Hey, look on the bright side. If this case goes to court, maybe someone will finally get the opportunity to prove, once and for all, before a jury, that those documents were faked and that CBS knew it.

    "We have simulated a reproduction of the documents, the contents of the documents are accurate." cbs erred in misrepresenting the documents as authentic and should suffer the repercussions of such deception. a disclaimer such as the one above would have prevented this mess and allowed the democratic party focus to remain on point: ?are the contents of the documents accurate?

    hardleft - If the documents are fake, how can anyone claim that the contents are accurate. That remains an exeedingly dumb position. i.e. The documents were supposed to prove something. The documents are fake. If we had some ham, we'd have some ham and eggs if we had some eggs. Stupid is as stupid does. Trust me, I'm from the Left and I'm here to help you.

    PPJ: It is possible for a forged document to contain the truth, funny at it may seem.

    (insult slinging out the way) your entire presence here seems to be stupid is as stupid does; ace, wacko or some other rep hit a talking point and your chiming in with the same ol' schit, just a different day. get an original thought. (/insult slinging out the way) i could copy some $20 dollar bills, the content, that which is printed on the face is accurate, but the bill (the paper it's on) is fake (in this case not stock). the reproduction has the eye, the building, the sayings, colors, etc., etc. but of course you know this. (sarcasm) stupid me pointing out the blatant obvious to intellectual superior you, derived that from your fact charged rantings, and your keen ability to identify stupidity. (/sarcasm) will pass on your offer of assistance, i like you on the opposite side, as you frequently point out, we already have our share of *#(#&*#(#*#(. thanks for the offer though.

    PPJ: It is possible for a forged document to contain the truth, funny at it may seem. Posted by The Dark Avenger at February 17, 2005 04:33 PM Yeah sure, except when the forged document is the only "PROOF" you have that the contents are the truth. In which case you are once again up sh*t creek, paddleless [Neocon, you have just been limited to four comments a day on TalkLeft. You have 17 posted already. Come back tomorrow, if you must, and pace yourself. All in excess of four will be deleted.]

    D.A..... Man, a few Bush setbacks, and the trolls pop up faster than toadstools after a very rainy day. The real funny thing here is that all this (Bush's guard records) even came up in the first place! I mean the guy was already the Prez for 4 years! If I'm not mistaken, this was already hashed over the first time.... Is this the best the Dems got? In your zeal to discredit the man you have to regurgitate old news? Just another indication of how sad (& desperate) the left really is!