As is all over the news, CBS's external probe of the National Guard story has found serious flaws in how CBS followed it's own internal guidelines about sources, information and reporting. Morale in CBS is reported to be very low. Well, good. It should be. They serious screwed up a story. They have already fired five (with Dan Rather on his way out), and maybe more will go.
The thing is, not only CBS takes a credibility hit with this. Their failures splash over onto all major news organizations (print and TV), and allow charges of bias and distortion to be more easily made (though not proven). For all the talk of blogs, the internet, and cable TV replacing the traditional news outlets, let us keep one thing firmly in mind: only the major news sources have the budgets, people, and training to be able to chase down major news stories. Without these organizations, our knowledge of what goes on in our own government, between governments, and in other states falls off dramatically. And that information is critical to democracy and policy. CBS made it harder for the traditional news sources to be believed, which makes it easier to dismiss what they do uncover and report. That hurts all of us.
Posted by baltar at January 11, 2005 08:51 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Media