George W. Bush and 60 Minutes
Eight years ago, in another election campaign, a controversy was raised about how President George W. Bush became a member of the Texas Air National Guard, why he lost his flight status, and whether he fulfilled the requirements of his military service contract during the Vietnam War.
In the 2004 election campaign, a 60 Minutes Wednesday broadcast aired by CBS on September 8, 2004, less than two months before the 2004 Presidential Election, presented a series of documents alleged to have come from the "personal files" of the late Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, Bush's squadron commander during Bush's Air National Guard service. The documents described preferential treatment during Bush's service, including pressure on Killian to "sugar coat" an annual officer rating report for the then 1st Lt. Bush.
Unfortunately CBS had failed to authenticate the documents. Subsequently, several typewriter and typography experts concluded that the documents were blatant forgeries. No forensic document examiners or typography experts have ever authenticated the documents. The provider of the documents, Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, claims to have burned the originals after faxing the copies to CBS.
CBS News producer Mary Mapes obtained the copied documents from Burkett, a former officer in the Texas Army National Guard, while pursuing a story about George W. Bush and the controversy about his military service. The papers, purportedly made by Bush's commander, the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian, included criticisms of Bush's service in the Guard during the 1970s. In the 60 Minutes segment, anchor Dan Rather stated: "We are told [the documents] were taken from Lieutenant Colonel Killian’s personal files." He incorrectly stated that "the material" had been authenticated by experts retained by CBS.
The authenticity of the documents was challenged within hours, with questions initially focused on alleged anachronisms in the documents' typography and content soon spreading to the mass media. CBS and Rather defended the authenticity and usage of the documents for a two-week period, but continued scrutiny from other news organizations and independent analysis of the documents obtained by USA Today raised questions about their validity.
On September 20, 2004 (eight years ago today) CBS public repudiated the story. Dan Rather stated, "if I knew then what I know now – I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question." CBS News President Andrew Heyward said, "Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report. We should not have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret."
Several months later, a CBS-appointed panel led by Dick Thornburgh and Louis Boccardi criticized both the initial CBS news segment and CBS' "strident defense" during the aftermath. CBS fired producer Mary Mapes, several senior news executives were asked to resign, and CBS apologized to viewers. The panel did not specifically consider whether the documents were forgeries but concluded that the producers had failed to authenticate them and cited "substantial questions regarding the authenticity of the Killian documents."
Rather left "60 Minutes Wednesday", stepped down as anchor on March 9, 2006, and then left CBS altogether on June 20, 2006. The CBS news show that had aired the memos, "60 Minutes Wednesday" was canceled on May 18, 2005. In September 2007, Rather sued CBS and its former parent company, Viacom, for US$70 million, claiming that he had been made a "scapegoat" over the memos story. On September 21, 2009, Rather's lawyers claimed that Bush's military service would be proven to be a sham and Rather would be vindicated. Eight days later, on September 29, 2009, a New York state appeals court dismissed Rather's lawsuit against CBS. On January 12, 2010, New York's top court refused to reinstate Rather's $70 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS Corp. In 2012, May 18, on Bill Maher's show, Rather said he was fired for reporting a story about George W Bush's year of absence from reserve unit he served with, and that the news corporations were 'very uncomfortable' with running the story.
In the 2004 election campaign, a 60 Minutes Wednesday broadcast aired by CBS on September 8, 2004, less than two months before the 2004 Presidential Election, presented a series of documents alleged to have come from the "personal files" of the late Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, Bush's squadron commander during Bush's Air National Guard service. The documents described preferential treatment during Bush's service, including pressure on Killian to "sugar coat" an annual officer rating report for the then 1st Lt. Bush.
Unfortunately CBS had failed to authenticate the documents. Subsequently, several typewriter and typography experts concluded that the documents were blatant forgeries. No forensic document examiners or typography experts have ever authenticated the documents. The provider of the documents, Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, claims to have burned the originals after faxing the copies to CBS.
CBS News producer Mary Mapes obtained the copied documents from Burkett, a former officer in the Texas Army National Guard, while pursuing a story about George W. Bush and the controversy about his military service. The papers, purportedly made by Bush's commander, the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian, included criticisms of Bush's service in the Guard during the 1970s. In the 60 Minutes segment, anchor Dan Rather stated: "We are told [the documents] were taken from Lieutenant Colonel Killian’s personal files." He incorrectly stated that "the material" had been authenticated by experts retained by CBS.
The authenticity of the documents was challenged within hours, with questions initially focused on alleged anachronisms in the documents' typography and content soon spreading to the mass media. CBS and Rather defended the authenticity and usage of the documents for a two-week period, but continued scrutiny from other news organizations and independent analysis of the documents obtained by USA Today raised questions about their validity.
On September 20, 2004 (eight years ago today) CBS public repudiated the story. Dan Rather stated, "if I knew then what I know now – I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question." CBS News President Andrew Heyward said, "Based on what we now know, CBS News cannot prove that the documents are authentic, which is the only acceptable journalistic standard to justify using them in the report. We should not have used them. That was a mistake, which we deeply regret."
Several months later, a CBS-appointed panel led by Dick Thornburgh and Louis Boccardi criticized both the initial CBS news segment and CBS' "strident defense" during the aftermath. CBS fired producer Mary Mapes, several senior news executives were asked to resign, and CBS apologized to viewers. The panel did not specifically consider whether the documents were forgeries but concluded that the producers had failed to authenticate them and cited "substantial questions regarding the authenticity of the Killian documents."
Rather left "60 Minutes Wednesday", stepped down as anchor on March 9, 2006, and then left CBS altogether on June 20, 2006. The CBS news show that had aired the memos, "60 Minutes Wednesday" was canceled on May 18, 2005. In September 2007, Rather sued CBS and its former parent company, Viacom, for US$70 million, claiming that he had been made a "scapegoat" over the memos story. On September 21, 2009, Rather's lawyers claimed that Bush's military service would be proven to be a sham and Rather would be vindicated. Eight days later, on September 29, 2009, a New York state appeals court dismissed Rather's lawsuit against CBS. On January 12, 2010, New York's top court refused to reinstate Rather's $70 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS Corp. In 2012, May 18, on Bill Maher's show, Rather said he was fired for reporting a story about George W Bush's year of absence from reserve unit he served with, and that the news corporations were 'very uncomfortable' with running the story.