Salon: "The Cowardly Broadcast System." Salon has seen the report killed

[milkyway]

by CBS and tells us what it contains.

__________

subhead: CBS cravenly killed a "60 Minutes" segment about Bush's deceptive case for invading Iraq. What did it contain that was too much for voters to see?

<snip>

Salon was given the videotape by CBS News on the condition that we report on it only shortly before it was to air. But after the network effectively spiked its own story (which was reported by Newsweek online and by the New York Times), we sent an e-mail late last week to CBS stating that we believed that the embargo no longer applied. We received no reply and therefore feel free to report.

In his closing, Bradley explains how fiercely the White House fought his report. Administration officials and Republicans in Congress turned down "60 Minutes'" requests for interview. So did former Rep. Porter Goss, the Florida Republican whom Bush has appointed as the new director of the CIA.

<snip>

"60 Minutes" defied the White House to produce this report. But it could not survive the network's cowardice -- cowardice born of self-inflicted wounds.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/29/cbs_wmd/index.html

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. Well now its obvious who served up the Killian memos

and why.

[napi21]

2. Did you read the article?

I haven't yet. Decided I didn't want to waste my one day free pass if I could find out the contents here on DU.

If noone has read it, I'll use my pass.

[politicat]

3. you can get a day pass every day....

you just have to watch a commercial each day. It's no big deal.

Pcat

[leQ]

31. is anybody else having issues with getting the ad to display?

because all it does on my browsers (ie & firefox) is continually reload with a quicktime icon. this doesn't surprise me. everytime i've tried to view their one-day ads, i've had problems like this.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[milkyway]

4. The article mentions that Martino might have been using the Rovian tactic

of releasing forged evidence against his own side.

__________
An alternative theory, floated in corners of the conspiracy-minded European press, is that Martino was working for the antiwar French, who hoped to discredit the Bush administration by getting American officials to swallow obviously forged documents.
__________

[napi21]

7. What's the deal with Niger? This is a clip from the Salon story...

We are in Niger, the world's fourth-leading supplier of uranium yellowcake.

Why would such an obscure country be a leading suppiler of yellow cake? Is this such a hard thing to make? What am I missing here?

[Rose Siding]

8. They mine it there

large deposits

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

22. That is because it is toxic for the environment and dangerout

for the workers, and it is not economically viable to do it where anyone gives a shit about either one.

[Blaze Diem]

5. Every Dem who voted for Porter Goss should read this.

Every American who was cheated out of viewing this on their CBS News station should have the right to hear it NOW..

Report the effing news you Cowards!! Freedom of Speech and the Press in America will be lost ONLY if you allow it..

Bush/Cheney Style of government "hates us for our freedoms".

[TrogL]

6. Wouldn't it be interesting if a digital copy started floating around

I'm sure there's more than one copy out there. This gives it deniability.

[Rose Siding]

10. Can you believe we're hoping for a bootleg copy of a 60 Minutes spot?

But the real power was in the audience that would have watched it- they get a large market share close to elections.

[high density]

17. That's what I was thinking of as well

If Salon has a copy there must be dozens of other copies floating around at other news organizations.

[TexasBushwhacker]

32. Yeah, someone will get it out there

You know, there are Republicans that want to know about this to. The bottom line is that Bushco lied to ALL OF US, not just the Democrats. I'm convinced that someone, in the next few days, will do the right thing and get it out there. By the time CBS gets an injunction (if they try) it will be in the hands of millions.

[KeepItReal]

9. Cowardly indeed. Good lookin out CBS. Thanks for nothing.

<eom>

[RussBLib]

11. So what have you got to lose, CBS?

Air the freakin' report! Somebody needs to remember that they have some balls!!

[KeepItReal]

12. You think Viacom's CEO pulled a Rupert Murdoch on CBS news?

Just a question, since he declared himself for Bush & Co. after all...

[CornField]

16. That was the basis of my letter to CBS -- just air it!

Here's a copy:

Just as it is not ethical for a man capable of working to lie flat on his back and collect welfare, CBS News is also not allowed to roll/bend over in the on-slaught of controversy.

It is time, President Heyward for you and the CBS News team to do what you were put on this good earth to do -- be a public watchdog (in lieu of fading into a lap dog). The most revered people in American society are those who have overcome hardships; those who have risen above controversy; those who have done the right thing.

Just as NBC news lived through the car mishap and numerous affiliates have suffered through on-air mis-statements, CBS News will also continue on its path of journalism (albeit a bit wiser for the experience).

Now, however, when our nation faces one of the most difficult choices I've seen in my lifetime, is absolutely not the time for our best and brightest journalists to sit idly on the sidelines. Please do not attempt to tell me and the millions of other Americans who have come to depend on your news coverage that any segment is "inappropriate" for our viewing. Let us see your reporting. Let us decide.

The time has come for CBS to leave the naughty-naughty corner and come out fighting. The American people deserve the best you have to offer. Yes, even if it turns out that journalists are fallable humans in the process.

The time has come for CBS to show the 30-minute segment by veteran correspondent Ed Bradley on the Niger papers.

I am an American viewer. I can forgive (and even forget) mistakes. What I will not tolerate is cowardice. Have a little faith in your journalists and have a drop of faith in the public as well. In order for us to function effectively, we require you to function effectively.

CBS News needs to take back what has been taken from it by exposing the truth. Show the Bradley piece. Let the American public decide what information we deem "appropriate."

[sallyseven]

39. Go to their web site

Click on Feed back and deluge them with comments. Make some noise call their number and ask that they reconsider the consequences of their actions. Make that available. I guess that rove is behind the Killian letters. They copied them and put them out there and then declared them forgeries. That bastard.

[truebrit71]

13. Wow..great article...and makes it all the more obvious where the Killian..

...memos came from....

I originally thought that the fake memos real target was the Kerry campaign...but it seems that CBS was indeed the intended victim....

Cunning...dirty bastards...

[TexasBushwhacker]

21. Yup, payback for breaking the Abu Ghraib scandal n/t

[oldhat]

14. Wow.

Read this.

Kick.

[Kimber Scott]

15. Gawd! Won't ANYBODY tell us the TRUTH?

I can't take what is happening to this country. I can't take it!

[Pachamama]

18. After reading this, I'm convinced all the more that CBS & Rather were set

...up to intentionally shut them up....I believe that the people who set them up wanted to teach them and anybody else in the media that dares to expose this administration a lesson....

Wow, how are we, the people and voters supposed to make informed decisions when no one in the media has the guts to broadcast the truth?

This is so scary...what is happening to our country that we can't even get these stories?

:grr:

[RaleighNCDUer]

29. And what a set up!

I thought the set up was meant to just counter the Boston Globe story about AWOL (which has indeed vanished from view), but never thought it would result in castrating CBS news altogether.

[SeekingTruth]

19. Maybe this is a similar CIA attempt...

to get the story out. For months I have been moaning that Kerry should promise that he will up the funding for intel work - people are very territory - so maybe someone inside of CBS is tired of the bullshit and wants this story ran...

[Carolab]

20. Relax...

It's just that Sumner Redstone is doing "what's good for Viacom", and like Lee Iacocca said, "what's good for GM is good for the country"...right? Right? Riiiiiight.

These CEOs are all so selfish and myopic, it's unimaginable. It's just like Dick Durbin pointing out to Maytag's CEO the logic of closing the Maytag plant in Illinois, when most of Maytag's customers are Americans and without jobs they can't buy Maytags. By not releasing this story, Redstone is jeopardizing the safety and security of all Americans--no, make that the world--so, who is supposed to watch CBS's shows in the future if there is no one to support them? If no one can afford to buy the crap that is advertised there? Where will he derive revenues? From the Bush administration?

THINK, SUMNER, THINK!!!

[saracat]

23. Obvious Viacom was threatened. Sumner is a major Democrat.

So is Les Moonves. Sumner phrased his response very carefuly. He was "doing what was best for Viacom".That implies he was made to do the endorsement. He never says I support etc. I wonder what they threatened Viacom and CBS with?

[FighttheFuture]

37. Pulling their license to broadcast... retro-active fees for obscenity...

CBS already paid $500K+ for the Jackson boob. They could find ways to add more. Also, Michael Powell, dropping of Colon, would have no problems starting hearing to pull their license. If Kerry got in, then that would stop, but if BushCo gets another 4 years of hell to make, then CBS is toast.

[hatrack]

44. I don't give a tin shit whether Sumner Redstone is a "major Democrat"

Maybe he is, and maybe he isn't. What he should not - NOT - be doing is announcing in a public setting that he's going to support Bush 'cuz it's "good for business".

What an unconscionable, disgusting and pathetic little lickspittle he is to make this public, and I don't give a good Goddamn if it makes his stock go up or down or sideways.

[saracat]

46. But apparently he does and he makes the decisions, or does he?

That is the question.

[Dem2theMax]

24. Why don't we make this the major project of the day? Media Blaster

and everything else we can think of to get the word out there. It's about 3am where I am. I just got done sending emails about *'s hometown newspaper endorsing Kerry - to every state in the Union and to every media source listed in the Media Blaster. To say my carpal tunnel is acting up a wee bit would be putting it mildly. But I'm game if everyone else is. I wanna FIGHT!!!!!!! :mad: :nuke:

[Raster]

26. MEDIA BLAST!!! It's way too cool that slyly CBS has allowed SALON...

...to in effect, run with their story. The truth must be told. What do we need to do to fire this puppy around the world?

[wishlist]

25. CBS/60 minutes muzzled for breaking Abu Ghraib, Halliburton expose too

This morning on ABC news, Terry Moran said that Bushco is positively giddy right now over the polls and how their campaign is going.

I'm sure the WH is thrilled to have silenced CBS and manipulated the attention of most of the media away from criticism of Bush/Cheney and entirely on discrediting Kerry.

CBS was either totally set up by RW operatives providing forged documents in order to expose the forgery, or by the WH allowing the documents to be released without questioning their authenticity, but then orchestrating the overwhelming barrage of forgery accusations initiated by RWingers.

It is a shame that after their Halliburton expose (that resulted in an investigation of Cheney's offshore scams and dealings with Iran etc) and the Abu Ghraib torture expose, CBS has chickened out on running the WMD story. Bushco's misleading statements about WMD and misguided actions in the runup to the invasion are a matter of public record. I don't see any of the networks exercising similar restraint when they repeatedly boost the WH and reinforce Bushco's unfounded criticisms of Kerry.

I am writing to CBS/60 minutes to complain about this suppression of a story.

[farmbo]

27. So CBS caved to Right Wing pressure..."Dog bites Man!"

Just like the Reagan Bio-flick.

But just like the Reagan flick...why not sell it to someone else, take CBS' name off it, and let them run it on cable?

[Chiyo-chichi]

28. They COULD do that.

What is stopping another network from picking up the story? They could go to the original sources & do their own interviews with their own reporter. They COULD also report on the story just using the "why did CBS spike this story?" angle. Interview Bradley & Rather & in the process, tell the story of the phony Niger documents.

ULTIMATELY, CBS should run this story! News is news, facts are facts, and they have an obligation to report! People, don't forget that it was a 1980 60 Minutes interview that effectively put an end to Ted Kennedy's front-runner status. I'm sure they knew that the interview would have an effect on the primaries, but it did not stop them from airing it. Whether the neer-do-wells they expose are Republicans or Democrats or unscrupulous car mechanics should not factor in to the equation.

Bush SHOULD be asked about the phony Niger documents tomorrow night. He should also be asked why he THRICE refused Pentagon requests to bomb the Ansar al-Islam camp in Iraq and take out Zarqawi. There's even a phony document in the Zarqawi story -- a letter attemting to link Ansar al-Islam to Sadaam.

He SHOULD be asked these questions because they are part of a mountain of evidence that he led the country into war on trumped up charges.

[TexasBushwhacker]

30. I'm sure that Bradley and Rather like their jobs

Althought at Rather's age, and especially after this, I'm sure that he's ready to say fuck it. But I don't think Bradley is ready to retire just yet. I wonder if CBS WOULD sell it to another network. I mean think about it. This could be as much about the president of CBS supporting Bush as anything. The president of CBS News is Andrew Heyward and he's the one that spiked the story, but for all we know the order came from higher up.

The bottom line is that Salon was given a tape, and I'm sure some other news entities were too. Couldn't someone suddenly start streaming it on the internet or make it available for download? It would get more hits than Tommy Lee and Pam!

[DeepModem Mom]

34. Let's have that tape streamed -- anyone out there?

nt

[Carolab]

36. Rather should quit

and go public with this story...put a real cap on his career, going out as a true journalism and maybe one that saves this nation (and the world)

[KoKo]

35. Kick....needs to be read by everyone...Get the "Day Pass" it's quick..

:kick:

[0007]

38. Yikes, this one hurts. This country have become so phony it makes

professional wrestling look honorable. Nigeria is running second best to the U.S. in scamming and lying.

Please read the article folks.

[slor]

40. Cannot wait to read it. eom

[Flammable Materials]

41. Someone at Salon needs to "leak" this video to Usenet newsgroups.

Particularly alt.binaries.documentaries.

[David Zephyr]

42. Last Week I Dubbed It The Castrated Broadcast System.

Not cowardly, but completely castrated. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=864288#864791

[Gin]

43. IMO....Rove knew they were working on this story.....Rove had access

to shrubs military files....they created the memos to come out before the story...to discredit the memos as "fakes"...CBS couldn't very well do another story about "fake" memos after that.

The only way that plan would not have worked...is if Rather didn't run with the story...and the Niger segment was aired. If I had spent months on a story and had it pulled...I would be pissed too.

It may still come out in October....just in time to remind the voters about the "yellow" coward from crawford.

[sampsonblk]

45. Don't blame CBS for this

They get no support from our party leaders. Nada. The Repub attack machine is in full swing, and our guys are afraid to stand up to them. So CBS is making a smart decision. Otherwise, they may end up like Clinton, Gore and so many others - left alone to defend themselves, their reputation may suffer irreparable damage.

Our guys are too damn weak to effectively expose Fox fuckin news!