New network name "See-BS" :)

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See BS

From The Right-CBS (or See ‘BS’)

By Steve Tefft

I grew up watching CBS News. Whether the story of the day was moon shots, elections, or war coverage, my family tuned to CBS for the best, most reliable coverage.

Walter Cronkite was the network’s most recognizable reporter, and he was supplemented by a strong team: Mike Wallace, Roger Mudd, Bob Schieffer. Dan Rather was part of that team. He aggressively pursued stories that needed pursuing, and through hard work became part of network news’s gold standard. He, and CBS, were trustworthy.

No longer. If Dan Rather announced today that the sky was blue, I would check with the nearest meteorologist before believing him.

Rather’s credibility, already questionable with many viewers, has been shattered by his airing of documents intended to damage President Bush but that are almost certainly forgeries. Instead of containing the damage by immediately admitting to a case of possible fraud – and earning respect for doing so – Rather dug himself and his network deeper into a hole of ridicule by repeatedly asserting that, in effect, the documents may have been fake but the story was true.

The claim was laughable. The entire episode was inexcusable, but illustrative of a condition that exists within much of the mainstream media.

The documents were important to CBS because they raised questions about the president’s truthfulness. Despite warnings from at least two experts hired to authenticate the papers, “60 Minutes” put them on the air. It’s apparent that the show’s staff – including Rather – believed the documents were real because they wanted to believe they were real.

The default image of Bush held by CBS and the mainstream media is of a dumb, lying, silver-spoon slacker… and any information that supports that image must therefore be accurate. This view predominates, as do others on a range of issues. The pack mentality leads media outlets into a rush-to-report syndrome. Big Media has a widespread, low regard for our military.

Earlier this year the Boston Globe published photos depicting American soldiers raping Iraqi women. The pictures were fake, and the paper apologized … but the Globe believed them to be authentic because they neatly fit the media’s anti-military template. Similarly, CNN issued its slanderous “Tailwind” report several years ago charging the use of chemical weapons by American troops during the Vietnam war.

Corporations are another Big Media target; witness NBC’s “Dateline” show that staged a truck explosion in order to depict General Motors as another heartless, cruel corporation. That Dan Rather eagerly believed charges made in phony documents is just the latest manifestation of mainstream mediathink. Ten years ago – even five, perhaps – CBS would have gotten away with it … but not today, with a virtual army of Internet bloggers ready to check every allegation.

We don’t yet know the original source of the forged documents. CBS says it got them from Bill Burkett, a longtime Bush-hater from Texas. Strangely, however, the network doesn’t show much anger about being hoodwinked, nor does it evince much desire to find out who manufactured the forgeries.

Why might this be? Could there be connections CBS doesn’t want uncovered? Burkett says he called Max Cleland, former Democratic Senator from Georgia, earlier this year with “information” about Bush’s National Guard service. Burkett also recently spoke by phone – at least once, possible more often – to former Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart, who recently signed on with the John Kerry campaign. Lockhart says he was advised to call Burkett by Mary Mapes, the CBS producer who authored the “60 Minutes” story based on the false documents.

Did CBS, the Kerry campaign and a longtime Bush adversary (and who knows who else) team up for a coordinated political hit?

The phrase “if it walks like a duck, and it talks like a duck…..” seems to apply here.

Steve Tefft is a writer and producer with WCVB, Channel 5 in Boston. He lives in Sandwich.