This is the course of action I have been recommending. And this is the POLITE tone to use. Rathergate.
Guilt By Affiliation
Filed under: General— Heminator @ 4:15 pm
One thing that hasn’t been discussed much, but has been coming to a slow and steady boil - the reaction of CBS’ affiliates. More on that here and here.
In the meantime, though no doubt certain CBS affiliates are choking on their rage, they’re still circling the wagons. Here’s an actual exchange between a frustrated viewer and their local affilliate in Wisconsin:
—–Original Message—–
From: XXXX@XXXX.com
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 9:24 AM
To: XXXX@XXXX.com
Subject: The 60 Minutes/TANG documents
Dear Mr. Bier,
I’m sure that the actions of CBS News on a national level are
distressing to you. It’s so important to protect the integrity and
reputation of legitimate journalism, yet their actions undermine it. And
these are the people who should be most concerned about upholding the
highest standards of network news journalism. I am really appalled and
astonished.
I’m including below a copy of a letter I sent to CBS News president
Andrew Heyward.
“Dear Mr. Heyward:
It’s patently obvious that the documents produced last week on 60
Minutes II are a cheap forgery.
You’re pursuing a course of slowly twisting in the wind.
By doing this, you’re hurting all serious journalism. You’re
undermining the public’s trust that journalists can be relied on to be
completely honest about the barest of necessities in legitimate
journalism–the authenticity of documents used as news sources.
If you love journalism, and understand how precious the role of
journalism is in a democracy, please, please, please bite the bullet. Stand
up and acknowledge the truth. This will help restore your credibility, but
more importantly, it will help restore the trust that informed citizens of a
democracy need to have in their journalists.”
Leslie XXXX
[address witheld]
———————————
From: Tom Bier
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 10:34 AM
To: Leslie
Subject: RE: The 60 Minutes/TANG documents
Leslie,
Thanks for your note and for sending along the copy of the letter you
sent to Andrew Hayward. I have known Andrew for a number of years and
expect CBS will be handling this matter in a correct way. Indeed, as you
suggest, the issue is distressing to us. CBS News has always had the
highest ethical standards and I expect they will live up to that reputation
and respond accordingly in either removing the doubt about the authenticity
of the documents or admitting they are not authentic.
Sincerely,
Tom Bier
Station Manager |
