We can only hope that Les Moonves takes Hugh Hewitt’s advice. I think this would be the start of a good thing for television news.
I am not firing Andrew Heyward, Dan Rather, or Mary Mapes, though Heyward is no longer CBS News president and Dan’s not our anchor anymore. These three, and a few others involved in this meltdown, have been given an assignment to produce a one-hour special detailing what happened. It is scheduled to run in two weeks. I will review it before it airs. If it doesn’t answer every question, then that will be the end of some fine CBS careers. I am not interested in retribution. I am interested in reputation. Ours is toast, and it deserves to be. Dan’s in charge of the first step in the rebuilding process. I have confidence in him.
Can Moonves bring himself to admit that bringing in [Someone Else] is the smart thing to do?
Will hiring [NAME] turn us into Fox News? Fox News is a fine news organization, and if you haven’t figured that out yet, you are in denial. They owned the Swift Boat story because we were sniffing about the fact that this or that didn’t seem appropriate to us. They owned the Republican convention because people trust Hume. I’d hire him tomorrow to anchor but he won’t come. So get over this “Fox News is a right-wing carnival” crap.
This morning after my segment, Jim Lago had on the GM for the local CBS affiliate. (HINT: They are not to blame for the problems. But it is affecting them.) And affiliates are not real pleased about the whole thing. They are loyal, however. It was clear that the fake documents do carry legitimate questions in the minds of many. Looking at facts, I don’t know why.