"CBS owes Ed Bradley an apology" -- Missed Chance To Change Everything LINK

[Blackhatjack]

The framers of the Constitution realized that a democracy could not survive without a free press to inform and educate the members of that democracy about the actions of their government. It was debated and eventually included as an affirmative protection which eventually became known as the 'fourth estate.'

Here the decisionmaking of CBS that impinged on carrying out that very real function and duty demonstrates just how important it is to have a 'free press' and the consequences that flow from allowing corporate interests to trump that higher calling.

I am sure Ed Bradley would be pleased to know that his efforts were not overlooked, and that they played a role in opening up a public debate about this most important topic.

If we do not break up the corporate monopolies that now control the 'mainstream media' and restore competition and integrity among the MSM and journalists, we may never know what 'our government' is doing in our name, and as a direct result we will lose our role as participants in our democracy. At that point we would be a 'democracy' in name only.

Thanks Ed!

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200611200004

"CBS owes Ed Bradley an apology"
by Eric Boehlert

"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."

<snip>

"Jacoby described Bradley's effort as "a hard-hitting report making a powerful case that in trying to build support for the Iraq war, the Bush administration either knowingly deceived the American people about Saddam Hussein's nuclear capabilities or was grossly credulous."

[blm]

1. CBS, ABC, CNN, NBCs, NYT, WaPost and just about EVERY news organization covered up

for BushInc. before the 2004 election - and so did some BIGNAME Democrats who were aware of WH lies about Plame outing and chose to hold Rove's secrets for him.

CBS owes Bradley and this country and the WORLD an apology.

[Blackhatjack]

7. You are correct --however this was one example Ed Bradley helped expose

The argument has been made that the true importance of the things we do cannot be accurately judged until we have passed on.

Ed's legacy lies in many works he left to be examined for years to come.

However, this is one small proof that what is considered as a 'failure' during our lifetime, might in time stand as witness to a movement to reclaim the tenets and role of real journalism in a democracy. If so, we will once again learn the lesson of 'doing the right thing, because it is the right thing to do" even if it is derided as a 'failure' at the time.

Thanks again Ed.

[mom cat]

31. Sounds like CBS owes all of us an apology. Bradley's should be

first, but we all deserve an apoplgy for a decision that kept that election within the margin of theft.

[exlrrp]

9. You are SO not kidding!!

"...CBS owes Bradley and this country and the WORLD an apology."

And for their completely pusilanimous cave-in on the CBS memos story.
they ran away from a atory that would have given it to Kerry if followed up.
Sometimes I wonder if they took the biggest dive in history or if they were the biggest dumbasses in history.
Both could be true simultaneously. A very poor excuse fot a "news organization."

[Dinger]

2. KIck To High Heaven! & Recommend Too!!

[helderheid]

3. recommended #2

[blm]

5. and 3...Boehlert really has the corpmedia nailed for the Bush lapdogs they are.

.

[librechik]

4. Damn! Thank you, Ed --RIP

recommend # 5

off you go to the greatest page!

:kick:

[G_Leo_Criley]

6. k & r -- rest in peace Ed

It is truly sad to witness the extent to which the MSM has allowed itself to become part of the propaganda machine.

:kick:

glc

[Jay Sherman]

10. It's a state controlled media for all intents and purposes

.

[hootinholler]

30. No to call it a state controlled media is a huge mistake...

It implies that when the other side is in power the media will follow and that is not true. The media is privately controlled beholden to it's corporate masters.

Sadly I don't know how to fix it, but a truth in news law would be a good first step.

-Hoot

[newyawker99]

39. Hi Jay Sherman!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[yodermon]

8. Was this the one that Joshua Micah Marshall helped with?

of talkingpointsmemo.com fame. Remember, the "tectonic plates" item?

[Blackhatjack]

13. When did JMM mention the 'tectonic plates' item? Nothing so far...n/t

[KoKo]

23. Yes! It was Josh Marshall and Linda Rozen's story. They even brought

the spy who knew something about forgeries over to US and FBI never interviewed him. Bradley was going to do the story on 60 Minutes and devote almost the whole show to it and it was cancelled with RatherGate.

Josh wrote about it and it was the story he thought would "shift the tectonic plates." Salon had the video of the 60 Minutes piece up on their site. It may still be in the archives.

[Batgirl]

11. Damning portrait of our embarrassing corporate media in action

And quite illuminating as to how and why decisions are made to deliberately not report the facts. In this case the decision makers acted like fearful little groundhogs, who blinkingly emerged from their holes only to turn quickly and run back for safety and darkness, because of the big scary rightwing noise machine. This is a form of LIHOP where the corporate media knew Buscho was cooking up a war based on lies but thought it prudent not to mention it to the public. The public who was going to fund the war and sacrifice the lives of its children. If you're not going to report actual relevant news, if you're not going to fulfill your job of shining a light on the actions of our government, then the only thing you really have left is the carnival tent of Scott Peterson, Jon Benet, and perhaps most importantly, conveying to the public they can't leave their homes without being eaten by a shark.

What an awful situation for the whatever real journalists are out there, like the late great Bradley, who actually try to do their jobs.

"The basis for CBS' explanation -- "inappropriate" -- is still hard to comprehend since it flips a fundamental principle of American journalism on its head. Namely, that the job of the free press is to fairly report the news of the day in an effort to educate the citizenry, to help it make informed decisions, such as electing presidents. Yet in one desperate, CYA move, Heyward suggested that tenet was all wrong. "The idea that you would withhold journalism because you think it would have an effect on the world runs contrary to the whole idea of what journalism should be," noted Peter Hart at the time, a media analyst for Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting."

edit/typo

[Blackhatjack]

12. You really cut to the root of so many important issues ....

The role of the 'free press' cannot be carried out by 'reporting' entertainment figures and their exploits as the 'news' that members of a democracy need to participate in their government.

The problem of competing interests must be faced. The corporate owners of the MSM outlets have their priorities, and they do not often line up with the priorities of a free press. Where those competing interests conflict, under the present system of media consolidation and monopolistic ownership rules, the corporate interests will win out every time. Just the opposite of what the founders intended.

It really comes down to reporting the 'truth', and the timing of that reporting. Truth has no partisan sword to wield, and truth does not adhere to a political timetable. It is often unrecognized initially, but eventually comes to be known by its unalterable characteristics.

There are not multiple versions of the truth that MSM outlets put out. There are different versions of untruth that are put out to accomplish goals of the MSM outlets. That is it in a nutshell.

I do not believe Ed Bradley was without faults. But I do believe that the good we do in this world will bear witness to the fact that we are all flawed in some way, but we still can aspire to and attain a level of truth telling that overcomes any deficits we may have been cursed with as humans.

For those journalists who are in a position to reclaim their birthright, much wrongdoing can be overcome and marginalized if they will but take up the cause and return to reporting in compliance with true journalistic standards that are always measured by the truth.

[Time for change]

14. They also owe Iraq an apology

And the family of all those who died there and our country and the world.

And they also should have their license revoked for that. They are obligated to perform a public service in exchange for their license.

[Blackhatjack]

15. The 'embedding' of reporters, and isolation in the 'Green Zone' led to...

... reporting the Government's official version of events, and not the unvarnished impartial truth which is needed to maintain a democratic form of government.

When the Administration decided to 'allow' access to those who reported favorably, and to 'restrict' access to those who did not toe the Administration's line, the MSM had a choice: play ball or allow the less ethical members of the MSM to take their place. Admittedly, it was not much of a choice for the corporate entities looking for a 'handout' from this Administration.

Controlling 'access' should not be an issue for a competitive free press. If the press cannot agree to unite behind this concept, then the public should paint them for what they are --propagandists of the first order.

[understandinglife]

16. CBS and others in the media conspired to defraud the American citizen ...

... they are just as accountable under , as is Bush and all his neoconster minions.

If it applies to Enron, it certainly applies to CBS, Fox, New York Times (oh, yes it does, Pinch, Bill, Judith ...), ....

[Blackhatjack]

17. I am not sure you resurrect the MSM Free Press by prosecuting them....

It is the credibility the MSM has lost, and the failure to report 'newsworthy' matters in a truthful manner, that is the real damage we have suffered since Bush took office.

If they conspired with entities to defraud the American public, they are criminally liable for their individual acts --but not as members of the Free Press.

[oc2002]

18. But what can be done to break up the corporate media consolidation?

Here is why, and why the Democrats will likely not do anything about it.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0407.turner.html

[Blackhatjack]

19. The Answer is in the article you linked to ....

"At this late stage, media companies have grown so large and powerful, and their dominance has become so detrimental to the survival of small, emerging companies, that there remains only one alternative: bust up the big conglomerates. We've done this before: to the railroad trusts in the first part of the 20th century, to Ma Bell more recently. Indeed, big media itself was cut down to size in the 1970s, and a period of staggering innovation and growth followed. Breaking up the reconstituted media conglomerates may seem like an impossible task when their grip on the policy-making process in Washington seems so sure. But the public's broad and bipartisan rebellion against the FCC's pro-consolidation decisions suggests something different. Politically, big media may again be on the wrong side of history--and up against a country unwilling to lose its independents."

Ted Turner gets it! And the rest of the Congress may get it if we do not lose our passion for bringing it to their attention over and over again until they act.

Break up the monopolies.

Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.

Require public licenses to make air time available to the public without charge (the public airwaves do belong to us, and they only have a license to use them!).

Increase reporting of financial information by licensees of public airwaves.

For a start....

[blm]

21. This is the battle I want Dems to take on FORCEFULLY.

It really is the key to power for the fascist agenda.

[oc2002]

26. I hope the Dems do this, and pressure them to doing something about it.

nt.

[G_Leo_Criley]

33. Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine ...

which went down during Reagan years. Vetoed again during Bush 41's term.

See:

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fairnessdoct/fairnessdoct.htm

glc

[Vidar]

20. K&R.

[Blackhatjack]

22. If Ed's Story Had Been Broadcast We Might Not Have Attacked Iraq....

....think about that for a moment.

The lives saved, both Americans and Iraqis.
The massive amount of taxpayer money spent and squandered.
Our military would be intact and ready to respond to any crisis.
Our standing in the world would be much higher today, even with * in office.

Any way you cut it, funds would be available to invest in alternative energy to break our dependence on foreign oil from the Middle East.

Funds would be available to secure healthcare, medicare, medicaid, education, etc.

And Iraqi no-bid contracts would not have been let to transfer billions of dollars to the pockets of the corporations most friendly to the present Administration.

In light of the foregoing, I think it would be fair to say "it would have changed everything..."

[KoKo]

24. It was Josh Marshall and Linda Rozen who did the work on the story and

Bradley had filmed it and it was cut at last minute because of the Rather implosion. Salon got a copy of Bradley's piece for 60 Minutes and it was up on their site for weeks.

Josh and Linda had a huge scoop...and Rathergate pushed it off and it was never aired on the network.

[McCamy Taylor]

25. Viacom, CBS Parent Out of Compliance w/ FCC since 2000

In 2000 Bush Team promised them that their 40% plus of the nation's television channels (legal is less than 35% for any one company) would be made legal. In 2004, Bush team promised they were still working on it. Kerry, on the other hand, vowed to destroy big media giants. Viacom could not afford to piss off Bush, or his FCC could force them to sell off TV networks. They could not afford to have Kerry win or his FCC would force them to sell off TV networks.

Remember, guys, this is corporate media They do stuff for a profit, not for ideology or because it is good journalism.

[The Count]

27. About kerry's vows re: media giants - I seem to remember him voting for that

multi-purpose (omni?) bill that screwed us on medicare, allowed media monopolies & other goodies. Right after that vote, he was enbraced by the media and clearly put over other candidates (some who actually spoke against the GOP noise machine and therefore got willfully ignored - like Clark)

[truedelphi]

28. They owe Bradley an apology - They owe Mapes and

Rather an apology

They owe you and me an apology

[Blackhatjack]

29. They owe us all an apology for having had the power to stop this & failed... n/t

[gulfcoastliberal]

32. K&R - INVESTIGATE NOW! nt

[krkaufman]

34. Interesting contrast ....

"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."

Dan Rather is ignominiously s***canned by CBS for the use of documents that could not be verified beyond doubt as authentic, though no one debates the accuracy of the information they contain... while George Bush knowingly uses false documents containing lies and misinformation to lead a nation into invading another sovereign country, resulting in a body count of over half-a-million and growing -- and no one is held accountable.

[autorank]

35. Monster Post....thanks for the reminder..they owe us one too. K&R

I remember this leaked. It was all part of the ugly fabric of a really organized campaign of massive
distortion and disinformation.

They should apologize like the New York Times did. They won't. Sumner Redstone is the man, I believe, and he just got a good dose of reality and caved. What a shame.

Bradley was a fascinating guy and very insightful. I came to like his reports better than any others
on the show as time went on.

Another form of apololgy would be a 12 step type of action where the apology is through restarting the good work they once did. We'll see...it will be a cold day in Panama City before that happens, I'm afraid.

[Blue_Tires]

36. 35th rec

[Blackhatjack]

37. Question: Why Has Ed's Story Still Not Been Aired Today?

It is 'nice' that CBS devoted so much coverage of its admiration for Ed Bradley and his career at CBS. However, the story that was not run is just as relevant today as we look for a solution to the post-Iraqi War occupation.

If CBS has a smidgen of integrity it would air the uneditted story today.

Of course I will not hold my breath. Those who killed the original scheduled airing of the story are still in a position to keep it off the air today.

Just shows you how far we have NOT come in admitting that we were all taken in and the coverup is still going strong to protect Bush and company from being exposed.

[nytemare]

38. Yeah, why not air it now?

:shrug"