Dan Rather Stands by His Story

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/09/27/dan_rather_suit/

This is a great article that recounts the events of "Rather-gate," Dan Rather's report on the unexplained gaps in Bush's National Guard Duty during the Vietnam War and the blow-back CBS/Viacom received from the administration.

According to this account, the documents showing Bush never showed up for duty were authentic to any reasonable journalistic standard and corroborated all the other evidence gathered in the investigation. However, CBS, still sore from the bruises and "liberal media" labels received by the Administration after being the first to run the Abu Ghraib scandal, and Viacom, hoping for a Bush victory and continued FCC deregulation, were not pleased about another controversial story so close to the election.

CBS/Viacom assembled a panel to ostensibly investigate the validity of the report, but instead they rail-roaded Rather and the producers. The panel concluded that the truth of the story was inconclusive and allegedly ignored its own evidence in support of the story.

Rather, Mapes and 3 other producers were fired.

Rather has now filed a lawsuit against CBS and refuses to settle. He intends to use subpeona power to investigate his improper firing and, in the process, demonstrate that CBS knew the story was true.

Pretty amazing stuff. As much as "liberal media" gets thrown around, all the major outlets are still run by corporations, regardless of who is in the news room. I never considered the fact that FCC deregulation could be a big carrot being held out in front of all of the networks.

If it's true, it kinda sucks for you and me. Just one more way for dishonorable people to retain power once they have it, and one more muzzle on the people whose responsibility it is to let us know how dishonorable the powerful are.