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CBS Owes Ed Bradley an Apology

By Eric Boehlert, Media Matters for America. Posted November 22, 2006.


The network may have paid ample tribute when the newsman recently passed away, but that doesn’t make up for shelving his hard-hitting report in 2004 about how the country was misled into war.
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After breaking the news that legendary newsman Ed Bradley had died of leukemia, CBS News officials said, and did, most of the right things. Bradley's former colleagues at CBS toasted him for being "everything you admire in a great journalist," and the network devoted an entire night of 60 Minutes to highlighting Bradley's distinguished career as a skilled storyteller. When a tribute to Bradley was held November 21 at the Riverside Church in New York City, the CBS News team, synonymous with Bradley for more than three decades, likely had a significant presence.

But CBS still owes Bradley a belated apology stemming from its shameful decision during the 2004 presidential campaign to pointedly refuse to run a factually solid story of his that chronicled how the Bush administration had misled the country into war. Specifically, the Bradley story detailed the murky circumstances surrounding bogus Nigerien documents unearthed in 2002 -- the alleged smoking gun -- that purported to prove that Saddam Hussein had purchased 500 tons of so-called yellowcake uranium to build a nuclear bomb. The documents turned out to be obvious fakes, but that didn't stop the Bush administration from eagerly using them in an effort to scare Americans with doomsday talk.

  • "[W]e now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons." Vice President Dick Cheney, 2002.
  • "We do know that he [Saddam] is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon." then-National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, 2002.
  • "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." President Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address.

Bradley's in-depth investigation, had it aired, would have been the first by a major network news outlet to devote serious time and energy to investigating the baffling case of the forged Niger documents, which were used as a pivotal propaganda tool.

But spooked by the controversy still raging over CBS' botched 60 Minutes II report on Bush and the National Guard, the one featuring the now-infamous unauthenticated memos allegedly written by Bush's commander, CBS News president Andrew Heyward completely abdicated the network's news responsibility and announced that Bradley's hard-hitting, and previously scheduled, story would not be broadcast in 2004. "We now believe it would be inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election," a CBS spokeswoman said at the time. (In fact, it was 18 months before Bradley's report, in an altered state, was safely broadcast on 60 Minutes.)

I realize the certified corporate-media takeaway from CBS' National Guard controversy, featuring Dan Rather, is supposed to be that the network was guilty of a colossal, historic newsroom blunder that ranks as one of the real earth-shattering journalism scandals of recent decades.

But I think any journalism pro who looks at the facts objectively would conclude that CBS' weak-kneed decision to spike Bradley's story represented the real newsroom calamity; a calculated capitulation that did far more long-lasting damage to CBS' newsgathering integrity than the Guard story, which, after all, the network eventually apologized for. And it did more than that. It appointed an independent inquiry, headed by a former Republican attorney general (Richard Thornburgh), to investigate what went wrong. It fired four senior producers, it canceled 60 Minutes II altogether, and even booted Rather from the anchor chair.

Yet to this day, CBS has not apologized for its timorous Niger surrender, which smeared Bradley's good name and hard work -- after the National Guard story erupted, Heyward told Bradley his Niger report wasn't good enough to broadcast, despite the fact it had already been slotted to run. (Ironically, Bradley's Niger investigation was set to air September 8, 2004, but got bumped by the National Guard scoop.)


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See more stories tagged with: saddam hussein, ed bradley, war in iraq, george bush, cbs

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genocide
Posted by: rsaxto on Nov 22, 2006 2:19 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A saint is dead and the Bushies/TV moguls are guilty of mass murder in Iraq. CBS should not just apologize for dissing Bradley, they should apologize to the people of the world for helping the Bushies commit genocide in Iraq.

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» Saint Ed? Posted by: edith
» RE: Saint Ed? Posted by: rsaxto
Don't forget--60 Minutes' National Guard story was factually correct
Posted by: pgj on Nov 22, 2006 5:07 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
While the substance of the article is well-taken, you do a disservice to the truth by failing to acknowledge that--despite 60 Minutes' representation of replicas of documents as the documents themselves--the facts that were contained in the story were correct. Strings were pulled to make sure that GW Bush's rich, pro-war, Republican behind would not be sent to Vietnam.

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network news dismantling itself into irrelevance
Posted by: lonpine on Nov 22, 2006 7:11 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Whatever. The fact is, the fourth branch is long on its way to abdicating its role in American politics, much as the rubber stamp Congress as recently done.

From a Hegelian perspective, maybe it was good that 60 Minutes and other supposedly reputable, mass news outlets decided to protect the Bush regime so that this Administration and its corrupt allies in Congress could continue a little longer to the tipping point that brought about the results of this year's elections. Just don't make this argument too loudly to the American and Iraqi families of those maimed or killed since Bradley's and other similar stories should've come out.

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"Reporters"
Posted by: albrechtkrausse on Nov 22, 2006 7:22 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Are not heros. Well, there are a few but they are few and far between and most people never hear about them. Most 'reporters', like Bradley and the rest of his ilk on tv, feed on the misery of others, exploit poverty, thrive on 'sensational' crimes, love to point out racism/sexism/other-ism to make profit off of the divisions in society.

These are the people who consider themselves 'above' the rest of us common peasants. Oh the self-appointed and aggrandised "4th Estate": They don't need to testify if they witness a crime, they don't need to reveal the sources that makes them their millions, they don't need to reveal a criminal conspiracy even if they are aware of it, they are the ones that give patently false 'exit polls' in attempts to skew elections. They enjoy the manipulation of us 'peasants' and simply serve their avaristic nature and their corporate masters.

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» RE: "Reporters" Posted by: lefu
The CBS of Murrow is Long Dead
Posted by: NoPCZone on Nov 22, 2006 7:38 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
CBS News as able to do the historic things it was able to do because of a number of brave souls at CBS News and Bill Paley, the founder and Chair of CBS. By the time the Tobacco story was spiked CBS was under the thumb of Larry Tisch, who also controlled Lorillard Tobacco. It was during the Tisch era that CBS News and TV News in general went down the toilet.

Read More About It

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kb
Posted by: kb on Nov 22, 2006 7:47 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Dan Rather was not wrong in the infamous draft dodger GWB, AWOL and heading for court marshall. THese facts were confirmed by the Bostan Globe & by the AP. The only error inthe CBS story was that they could not verify a terrer they had was written by long dead Col., although his secretary said it sounded like him.

That the CBS story was bogus is one of the great sucessess of conservative liar industry.

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» RE: kb Posted by: bigfoot
kb
Posted by: kb on Nov 22, 2006 7:47 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Dan Rather was not wrong in the infamous draft dodger GWB, AWOL and heading for court marshall story. THese facts were confirmed by the Bostan Globe & by the AP. The only error inthe CBS story was that they could not verify a terrer they had was written by long dead Col., although his secretary said it sounded like him.

That the CBS story was bogus is one of the great sucessess of conservative liar industry.

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» RE: kb Posted by: georgejmyersjr
oldguy
Posted by: oldguy on Nov 22, 2006 10:40 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It seems that the really hard reporters of old ,like Edward R. Morrow are no more. The real stories never get reported on ,in any papers or TV in this county anymore. Because so few have been able to buy up all the news outlets,the only" news" we see or hear ,are whatever the neocon's want us to hear! The neocon's really believe we "little people" don't know what is best for us,as we are too stupid .
When we do find someone willing to tell a story ,like Dan Rather they get fired,thats shameful. So maybe that is what has happened ,most are afraid of what might happen if they do come out with a story,they might lose money !

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» RE: oldguy Posted by: albrechtkrausse
Imbedded Phobia?
Posted by: georgejmyersjr on Nov 23, 2006 7:33 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I think maybe CBS:

a) have General Westmoreland phobia, that is the whole NBC business was sued for the news department by the general when it aired its suspicions in retrospect of the Vietnam "debacle" after the fact, settled for undisclosed millions, over alleged misrepresentations of body counts reported by the people in charge. Its also reported in part on-line. I had a cousin who directed "Huntley and Brinkley" and was an award winning producer for NBC News, George Murray, who had to cancel their investigative journalism of the "common soldiers view" of the Vietnam (undeclared) War canceled by "higher-ups" I heard second hand from someone who attended his eulogy in the United Nations Chapel, from a letter he had to write to the crew who had risked their lives over there for quite a long time according to the eulogizer, also a long-time television journalist, Edwin Newman. George Murray's last contract was producing the coverage of both major parties conventions in 1976 for CBS, or

b) the report I heard on WNYC radio, that CBS's CEO's brother wanted to buy the Texas baseball team, then Governor Bush had to have, then sold to buy the former turkey farm he now lives on, an almost parody of the largest ranch owner in the great state of Texas, owned by a Bush of no relation, has the "higher-ups" in knots.

I saw the last eulogizer and of the Ed Bradley eulogy on C-Span and I thought to write this from the "second line" (the ones waving the hankerchiefs).

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Excuse me?
Posted by: ptosh on Nov 23, 2006 9:47 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ummm aren’t you sullying Mr. Bradley’s good name to promote your anti-war, leftist agenda?!? I believe apologies are in order - yes?

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» RE: Anti-War agenda? Posted by: Ellie1
Bradley Was No Journalistic Saint
Posted by: MarcGarvey on Nov 28, 2006 11:09 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This seems like an attempt to recast the corporate media as this entity that is mostly good but has a few bad apples at the top messing everything up.

Bradley was silent on many, many issues. Paragon of journalistic integrity? Don't know about that.

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fomented
Posted by: fomented on Nov 28, 2006 9:33 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yes, CBS owes Ed Bradley an apology, and they also owe every citizen, dead and maimed American and Iraqi soldiers, and Iraqi citizens apologies as well. Clearly, they should get out of the news business, if they don't have the balls anymore to perform the tasks that made them a trusted leader.

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