Rather was prevented from going after smirk's N.G. paper's rigging

[donsu]

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Media/100105Madsen/100105madsen.html

Rather was prevented by CBS (subsidiary of Viacom) from going after the GOP operatives who doctored the documents

-snip-

Speaking at the National Press Club on September 26, Dan Rather responded to a question posed by moderator Marvin Kalb concerning the controversial TANG files of George W. Bush. Kalb asked Rather why he did not return to the story and investigate those who created the guard files, passed them off to a former TANG officer and hence to CBS's 60 Minutes, and tipped off right-wing bloggers before the airing of the pre-2004 election exposé by 60 Minutes. Rather responded, "You'll have to ask CBS that question."

Rather stated it was his desire to continue to delve into the story and the set-up. According to CBS insiders, the original TANG files were scanned by GOP dirty tricks operatives using a sophisticated text scanner that changed the original IBM typewriter Courier font to a Times Roman font, automatically created a "th" superscript for date numbers, and created margins and pagination. An independent panel commissioned by CBS and headed by former GOP Attorney General Richard Thornburgh never concluded the documents were bogus.

In fact, the GOP operatives had to be very careful in their dirty tricks operation: forging or counterfeiting official government documents is a felony. However, scanning original documents technically does not fall under the category of counterfeiting. Nevertheless, the GOP quickly tipped off right-wing bloggers, including Free Republic.com, that the CBS documents were forgeries. In doing so, Karl Rove and his team successfully refocused attention away from Bush and his AWOL status in the Guard and on to Dan Rather and 60 Minutes. People like Karl Rove and, as reported by The New York Post, long time GOP dirty tricks operative Roger Stone, got away with the entire caper, thus eliminating Bush's phony military record as a campaign issue.

Rather reiterated his recent comments at Fordham University that a fear mentality has gripped news rooms across the nation. He partly blamed the government for instilling fear among America's journalists.
-snip-
---------------------------------

what? the bushgang threatened murder? what would scare journalists so much?

scared them so much they actually helped the bushgang?

that's a big scare.

and they are still scared?

[goclark]

1. kick!

[Doctor_J]

2. I think at this point

the newsrooms are almost completely filled with Repubs, top to bottom. The purge of sensible journalists was begun 20 or so years ago, so that at this point nearly all reporters and editors are Bush/RW sympathizers, and the few who aren't fear for their jobs or worse on a daily basis - they know that one misstep will get them fired and blacklisted.

[Oeditpus Rex]

29. Y'know, I've gotten way past sick of hearing this

How many newsrooms have YOU been in? I've worked in them for the better part of the last 20 years, and I can tell you that Republicans are definitely in the minority. A survey last year by the Pew Institute — the largest survey of its kind, ever — supports this: http://www.mediaresearch.org/biasbasics/biasbasics1.asp

Here's a newsroom adage: Both Democrats and Republicans study journalism. After graduation, the Democrats go into journalism, the Republicans into PR.

If you want to blame someone in the media, look to the ones wearing the bad suits. I don't know how many times I've been told I have to put a story on the front page because it'll make a big advertiser look good or make them happy. In the same sense, the suits believe advertisers don't like "liberal" news, since business owners tend to be Republican.

I've often been asked by a publisher, "Why did you run this story?" about a wire story that made the Wregime look less noble than the Twelve Disciples. My answer was always, "Because, in my news judgement, I felt it was something readers need to know."

Oh, and btw — I did get fired. So don't tell me about "sympathizers."

[mirandapriestly]

30. An article from Common Dreams

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0403-25.htm
The lack of diversity in ownership helps explain the lack of diversity in the news. When George W. Bush first came to power, the media watchers Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) looked at who appeared on the evening news on ABC, CBS and NBC. Ninety-two percent of all U.S. sources interviewed were white, 85 percent were male, and where party affiliation was identifiable, 75 percent were Republican.

In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, there was even less diversity of opinion on the airwaves. During the critical two weeks before and after Colin Powell's speech to the United Nations where he made his case for war, FAIR found that just three out of 393 sources — fewer than 1 percent — were affiliated with anti-war activism.

[Doctor_J]

34. Did you just point me to an article by Brent Bozo

as "evidence" of something? The man is on the payroll of every RW organization in existence. Oh, yeah, that article quotes some Newsweak hack's imagination about what he supposes might happen in 2004, which he later admits was a lie to begin with.

No less a whore than Andy Coulter recently told the universe, "We have the media". And still dumb asses like you claim it to be untrue.

Man, you need to turn off Limpballs Faux "News" and stay away from Bozo's web site, and start getting your news from more reliable sources.

[Oeditpus Rex]

37. Are you addressing me or mirandapriestly?

If me, I have no idea who "Brent Bozo" is and I never listen to Limbaugh except on occasion to hear a particularly egregious lie pointed out by Media Matters.

[Doctor_J]

38. I am addressing you, who included in your post

a link at "Media Research Center", a RW propaganda outlet run by Brett Bozell, C-SPAN regular and GOP loon. Pointing to any survey quoted at that site proves nothing, except that you believe the junk put out by the WH and their paid liars. The fact that Bozo would quote an opinion in a Newsweak article proves that Newsweak is now part of Smirk's media cartel.

[Oeditpus Rex]

39. I linked to a site with results of the Project for Excellence

in Journalism's annual report, "The State of the News Media 2005." My choice of sites interpreting those results, was, admittedly, an unfortunate one. I'd forgotten I'd bookmarked the actual results several months ago (http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2005/index.asp), so I googled for them and linked to the first site listed. On those grounds, I stand convicted and rather ashamed.

However, my original point remains: Your contention that newsrooms are mostly Republican is inaccurate.

And just to reiterate, I listen to no right-wing bile except that cited here or on sites such as Media Matters, nor do I believe a word of what comes out of the WH propaganda maw. If you want to accuse someone of being a troll, you'd best look elsewhere.

[gordianot]

3. Remember who got weapons grade Anthrax in the mail.

Not the stuff produced by terrorist without sophisticated labs.

[MnFats]

4. Jesus. Have these people EVER behaved decently?

Would they have any inkling of how to do so, even if they wished to do so?
Is EVERY GODDAMN WORD they say a lie?

Wait, don't answer that.

[young_at_heart]

5. Can't SOMEONE look into this?

How about a story detailing "GOP operatives" and their dirty tricks operation?

[The Doctor.]

13. So basically... either a major felony was committed

or the documents were copies of originals.

That calls for an investigation, definitely.

[grannylib]

6. This has troubled me for a long time...we KNOW that * has no military

record that is in any way defensible, and that trashing Kerry's record was necessary to deflect any focus on * AWOL/Deserter status, but these filthy behind-the-scenes machinations by Rover the Attack Dog and others is just mind-boggling. And even if Rather didn't go after the REAL story, why didn't anyone else, either???
The reThugs are SUCH filth, it wouldn't seem that hard to scratch ANY surface and find layers of corruption so deep and so entrenched...
Makes me sick just thinking about it.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. It is not a matter of the media being scared..it is that they are part of

the problem. The media is owned by the same people who run the government. The media corporate heads willingly go along with the government's plans because it is in their best interests as well, since it keeps them in power too. They are all in this together.

[bunny planet]

8. Perhaps Rather meant that the few decent reporters and anchors left

have been frightened and intimidated. Most of them are not decent and are bought and paid for.

[ginnyinWI]

11. this seems to be so

Last night at the News and Documentary Emmy awards, Dan Rather was given the Lifetime Acheivement Award and was warmly spoken of by all there, among them some of the biggest names in news. At least one person stated that they thought that the substance of what Rather had reported re * was true. I think they all know he was set up. But why nobody came to his defense and investigated the story seems to come down to being intimidated by the RW powers that be.

Maybe now, as the Republican party crumbles and falls (and I am certain that it is) we will see the vindication of this fine journalist.

[Arugula Latte]

14. I hope you are right about the crumbling of the Repubs, however

the corporations continue to own the media and they perceive Repukes as being the ones to let them get away with crap and to de-regulate them and to help them make money (GE/NBC = vested interest in attacking Iraq, for example). I don't see that changing.

[ginnyinWI]

25. I don't think GE is in Iraq anymore

Someone who works for them told me that they pulled everyone out when that first attack in Fallujah happened. I don't know about their money interests, though--I just know that there are no more GE employees in Iraq, and haven't been for some time.

[MADem]

23. They have devolved into a corporate arm of the government

The media mouthpiece of BushCo, Inc. And the GAO called the government out on it, but no one has yet to take the networks/cables to task, really.

Rupert Murdoch, et.al., are all Ministers of Propaganda under the present regime.

[rzemanfl]

9. Seems to me that if someone had access to an IBM selectric

and access to a scanner with OCR software, they could at least demonstrate how it could be done.

[DemReadingDU]

10. Here are a couple of old dKos threads

someone spent quite a bit of time demonstrating how it could be done

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/10/34914/1603


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/10/213416/348

[rzemanfl]

12. Thanks. n/t

[Lefty48197]

15. "Your profession is honorable, and it's needed now more than ever"

Rather's closing comments at the media event this past week.

[nvliberal]

16. Madsen = no credibility.

There is NO evidence AT ALL the documents were forged--NONE.

The CBS "investigation" didn't even look into that matter, which begs the question why it bothered to do an investigation in the first place.

What these moronic operatives in the blogosphere did was try to cast doubts on the whole National Guard matter by playing people for idiots with a bogus diversion.

Any experienced typist can see those documents were never forged from a word processor. I for one could tell right off the bat they were typed on a 1970s-era typewriter.

Killian typed those documents, and the wingnuts know that, but it was important to discount the entire NG story and discredit CBS to save Bush's ass.

[The Witch]

17. sophisticated text scanner?

"...a sophisticated text scanner that changed the original IBM typewriter Courier font to a Times Roman font, automatically created a "th" superscript for date numbers, and created margins and pagination."

Um, a regular text scanner would do this. I have worked with the most basic of these things and it reads the text into Word in Word's default font, formats as it goes, etc.

More importantly, were there any typographical errors in the document? Some errors are the fault of scanning -- substituting o and 0 for each other, or substituting d for cl, etc. Has anyone given them a proofread?

[McCamy Taylor]

18. Fall 2004, * promised Federal Media Ownership Rules Changes

so all the major News Organizations including CBS/Viacom were doing big time * Ass Kissing and Kerry Bashing (since he had promised to rescind said rule changes)

The day AFTER Congress signed * up for a second term, Michael Powell rescinded the Federal Media Ownership Rule Changes for which every major news network in the US had sold its soul.

You need look no further for motivation for all the shit that all the media players did in 2004. These rule changes were going to make big bucks for big players.

[cassiepriam]

19. What specifically is the fear? Job loss? nt

[blm]

22. Anthrax. Again.

.

[cassiepriam]

32. This does not surprise me. They will destroy anything in their path.

And all for money. More money than they can even spend in a lifetime. Disgusting.

[CTyankee]

20. Help! I'm confused

My daughter said the secretary who typed the memo claimed that was not the memo, even though she vouched for the veracity of the overall content. Is that because what she was looking at was the scanned version that changed the font? On an earlier thread on this story, it was asserted that the font DID exist in the 70s.

Which story is true? And what's the deal with the guy who sent CBS the memo? How did he get it?

[0007]

21. Dan Rather is not quitting. And he won't be forgetting Karl

Rove anytime too soon.

I wondered how the freepers had picked up that information so fast. And one poster here at DU that has quite a few post for a troll.

GOP quickly tipped off right-wing bloggers, including Free Republic.com, that the CBS documents were forgeries.

[brentspeak]

24. It was Mary Mapes fault entirely that CBS got burned w/ the set-up

Mapes was the senior producer for 60 Minutes assigned to this story. What she failed to do in this case was unbelievable: when wacky Lt.Col.Bill Burkett provided CBS with the name of the source for the Killian documents, Mapes didn't verify that information. If Mapes had simply taken the time to pick up the telephone and spoken to the person that Burkett had claimed was his source, CBS would have known right away that Burkett was not to be trusted. CBS didn't bother to call the alleged source until after they aired the story -- at which time, the source denied providing Burkett with his documents or knowing anything about them. A high school journalism student would know enough to check up on sources before going with a story.

[McCamy Taylor]

27. Get real. She was a terget too. Who expects felony forgery of document?

Her book is scheduled to come out in November, cant wait. Only person who comes off well is supposed to be Rather.

Here is the Ballad of Mary M from GrandTheftElectionOhio.com all about how Rove and Co. wanted to take out Mapes even more than Rather.

Note that she was the ONLY one that Viacom (which was in violation of media ownership rules and therefore subject to proecution at any time by the FCC and therefore the administration had it by the balls) fired.

Be sure to read the second page of the comic.

http://www.grandtheftelectionohio.com/050206.htm

[brentspeak]

33. Incorrect

There were three other producers fired as well. Seems she wasn't the only one amateurish enough not to check on the source.

[bobbieinok]

44. Paul Lukasiak(sp?) researcher on the AWOL salon.tabletalk thread

said he was never contacted by CBS, although he could have told them Burkett was unreliable from his own experience

if you haven't discovered Marty Heldt's AWOL salon.tabletalk thread, do so soon........Marty started his investigation in the spring of 2000, and the thread has been going ever since

Lukasiak did a lot of good research on FL2000, especially on the actions against black voters.......he did a particularly impressive analysis of the whitewash of this by 60 Minutes or NightLine

[brentspeak]

45. Thanks, I'll check it out

[bobbieinok]

46. he posted a lot about the time W's non-service was hitting the news

[wakemewhenitsover]

26. Was a second motive to pressure CBS to cancel Niger story?

Which looks weaker than ever, in view of the (we assume) pending indictments.

[McCamy Taylor]

28. Link about how WH had Viacom by the balls over media ownership laws.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0403-25.htm

The attack on the existing media-ownership rules came from predictable corners: Both Viacom, which owns CBS, and Rupert Murdoch's conservative FOX News Channel were already in violation, and would be forced to sell off stations to come into compliance with the 35-percent limit.

[ladylibertee]

31. Not surprised.The Republicans have been doing that since

Nixon.

[lateo]

35. Anyone esle besides Wayne Madsen reporting this?

Sorry but I need another source...

[rinsd]

42. It's classic Madsen....

He takes a interview question asked Rather on C-Span, adds his own little bits to make a dark conspiracy.

"To be sure of what he was just told, Kalb responded, "I believe you just said that you think the story is accurate."

"The story is accurate," Rather reiterated.

Rather, who stepped down from his chair as anchor of the CBS Evening News, but remains a reporter for "60 Minutes," was then asked if he would continue to pursue the story to prove its accuracy.

"Straight-up, no chaser, no," he said. "One, CBS News doesn't want me to do that story. They wouldn't let me do that story."

When asked why, Rather said, "That's a question you'd have to ask them. But I've moved on from it. And I've done my best to put it behind me. I've taken my licks, taken my shot."

Madsen then adds his own stuff including that sophisticated scanner bit.

[chat_noir]

36. Truth and Duty : The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power

Editorial Reviews at Amazon:

It was another day of exhausted exultation. I got congratulatory e-mails, phone calls, and pats on the back. Other reporters called repeatedly as they worked to catch up to my story. I was thrilled.

All that changed about 11:00 a.m., when I first started hearing rumbles from some producers at CBS News that a handful of far right Web sites were saying that the documents had been forged.

I was incredulous. That couldn’t be possible. Even on the morning the story aired, when we showed the president’s people the memos, the White House hadn’t attempted to deny the truth of the documents. In fact, the president’s spokesman, Dan Bartlett, had claimed that the documents supported their version of events: that then-lieutenant Bush had asked for permission to leave the unit.

Within a few minutes, I was online visiting Web sites I had never heard of before: Free Republic, Little Green Footballs, Power Line. They were hard-core, politically angry, hyperconservative sites loaded with vitriol about Dan Rather and CBS. Our work was being compared to that of Jayson Blair, the discredited New York Times reporter who had fabricated and plagiarized stories.

All these Web sites had extensive write-ups on the documents: on typeface, font style, and peripheral spacing, material that seemed to spring up overnight. It was phenomenal. It had taken our analysts hours of careful work to make comparisons. It seemed that these analysts or commentators---or whatever they were---were coming up with long treatises in minutes. They were all linking to one another, creating an echo chamber of outraged agreement.

I was told that the first posting claiming the documents were fakes had gone up on Free Republic before our broadcast was even off the air! How had the Web site even gotten copies of the documents? We hadn’t put them online until later. That first entry, posted by a longtime Republican political activist lawyer who used the name “Buckhead,” set the tone for what was to come.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/031235195X/qid=1128350483/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-2563354-8257424?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[rinsd]

43. Yikes.....

I hope this isn't one of her main points....

"I was told that the first posting claiming the documents were fakes had gone up on Free Republic before our broadcast was even off the air!"

Because I thought it was established that Buckhead posted a couple of hours (still suspiscious as hell) after the EST showing and FR is based on PST. I could be wrong though.

[rhett o rick]

40. Why aren't any high level Democrats looking into this? nt

[rinsd]

41. Sophisticated scanner for changing text? Oh Madsen does it again! (nt)