WaPo’s Tom Shales on Dan Rather’s newsroom “integrity”

On Sept. 8, 200 Dan Rather and CBS’s 60 Minutes broadcast the bogus story Texas Air National Guard story based on forged documents provided by an anonymous source.

When bloggers and a few MSM journalists questioned the authenticity of the documents and asked about the source, Rather and CBS assured them and its viewers their anonymous source was “unimpeachable."

But after almost two weeks during which bloggers and a few MSM reporters questioned and exposed transparent falsehoods in the story, Rather and CBS were forced to back off their phony story.

From a Sept 21, 2004 Washington Post story:

The man CBS News touted as the "unimpeachable source" of explosive documents about President Bush's National Guard service turns out to be a former Guard officer with a history of self-described mental problems who has denounced Bush as a liar with "demonic personality shortcomings."

Over the past three years, retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett has given dozens of newspaper and television interviews accusing the president and his aides of destroying documents and stealing elections. In e-mail messages to an Internet chat group for Texas Democrats, he has also said that the "Bush team" sent "goons" to intimidate him at his ranch in Baird, Tex. . . .

For Burkett, attacking Bush, posting Internet messages and giving media interviews have become such all-consuming passions that he has had little time to tend to his ranch. . . .

For 10 days, CBS declined to name Burkett as the person who provided the disputed Guard documents, saying only that they came from an "unimpeachable source." CBS spokeswoman Kelli Edwards said yesterday that the network was investigating a Sept. 9 statement that asserted the network had spoken with "individuals who saw the documents at the time they were written."

The entire WaPo story’s here.

You can read more on the bogus Rather/CBS story here.

Now this - - -

While researching today I came upon the following item in the Media Research Center’s June 18, 2007 Notable Quatables post:

"Even critics of Rather would have to admit he has always stood, firmly and stubbornly, for hard news over fluff and for integrity in the newsroom."

— Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales, June 13 article.

Folks, can you believe that?

Shales can write something like that because he’s confident his follow liberal/leftists journos who dominate MSM news reporting and commentary won’t call him on his bald face lie.

They’ll recognize it as an attempt to help erase a memory most MSM want the public to forget as well as an attempt to rehab one of their own.

They'll fool some people, but not most of you.

A thank you to the Media Research Center for all it does to help bring the truth to the American people.