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CBS to Announce the Obvious

CBS is said to be preparing to announce, possibly today, that they were mislead as regards the authenticity of the memos used in the 60 Minutes II report aired 2 weeks ago. Hoodathunk?! To anyone reading the blogs these days, this is not news. To anyone with a set of eyes and even a teensy bit of objectivity on the matter, this announcement is one of the largest “No Duh!” moments of the year. Seeing the horrific damage these guys have done to the reputation of CBS news, it’s not coming as a surprise that they’re coming clean – at least this far – as regards the memos being fake.

However, that’s not going to be enough. When I accuse someone of doing something underhanded and it turns out I can’t back up the claim, common courtesy demands I apologize. It’s gonna suck if I feel that the person is really, really guilty of what I’m accusing him of, but it’s something ethics and honor require of me. They require I apologize for the accusation and that I then keep my mouth shut on the matter until I do have something to back it up. I’ve mentioned before that an apology doesn’t go like, “I’m sorry, but here’s all the reasons I’m justified for accusing this jerk of (insert regurgitation of my accusations again).” CBS should explain how this happened with special detail to what parts of their process either didn’t cover the situation in question or how/who simply failed to follow those procedures. They should then apologize to the President for the allegations and admit that they relied on faulty information for the accusation. End of apology. End of story. Go to commercial.

Having Dan Rather and Andrew Heyward resign as a way of trying to set things right for the hundreds of CBS News employees who have had eyes blackened over this through no fault of their own would also be good form. Those 2 should offer apologies of their own on their way out the door.

I’m not holding my breath, of course. But with honorable parties, this is what should happen.

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CBS to Announce the Obvious

CBS is said to be preparing to announce, possibly today, that they were mislead as regards the authenticity of the memos used in the 60 Minutes II report aired 2 weeks ago. Hoodathunk?! To anyone reading the blogs these days, this is not news. To anyone with a set of eyes and even a teensy bit of objectivity on the matter, this announcement is one of the largest “No Duh!” moments of the year. Seeing the horrific damage these guys have done to the reputation of CBS news, it’s not coming as a surprise that they’re coming clean – at least this far – as regards the memos being fake.

However, that’s not going to be enough. When I accuse someone of doing something underhanded and it turns out I can’t back up the claim, common courtesy demands I apologize. It’s gonna suck if I feel that the person is really, really guilty of what I’m accusing him of, but it’s something ethics and honor require of me. They require I apologize for the accusation and that I then keep my mouth shut on the matter until I do have something to back it up. I’ve mentioned before that an apology doesn’t go like, “I’m sorry, but here’s all the reasons I’m justified for accusing this jerk of (insert regurgitation of my accusations again).” CBS should explain how this happened with special detail to what parts of their process either didn’t cover the situation in question or how/who simply failed to follow those procedures. They should then apologize to the President for the allegations and admit that they relied on faulty information for the accusation. End of apology. End of story. Go to commercial.

Having Dan Rather and Andrew Heyward resign as a way of trying to set things right for the hundreds of CBS News employees who have had eyes blackened over this through no fault of their own would also be good form. Those 2 should offer apologies of their own on their way out the door.

I’m not holding my breath, of course. But with honorable parties, this is what should happen.