Drudge’s big splash today is “war inside CBS” - which is certainly interesting.
The basic gist of it, as stated by RatherBiased.com, is this:
In a blockbuster story in tomorrow’s New York Observer, TV reporter Joe Hagan reveals that Howard and two other CBS News executives, Betsy West and Mary Murphy, are refusing to go, insisting that they were made into scapegoats by an “independent” commission designed to protect the corporate brass from damage.
Howard is threatening to sue the network for wrongful termination and is said to be willing to testify under oath and subpoena secret internal documents and emails from his former employers.
However, Hindrocket at Powerline has some appropriate cautions.
Candidly, I hope it’s true. I’d love to see the inner workings of CBS News unveiled–the Thornburgh report was bad enough, but it was obviously, in some respects, the company line. An important caution, however: when people get fired and hire lawyers, the lawyers take over. Allegations are easy to assert and need never be proved; headlines are often the object. So let’s reserve judgment until actual evidence materializes. Press releases by lawyers are not evidence.
Not only is this a good point, it also points out the “truth seeking” efforts of the conservative blogs, rather than the “lynch mob” that they are sometimes portrayed as. This Washington Times article seems to get it (again, ht: Powerline):
The meme among those outlets that didn’t provide coverage is that the bloggers were on a headhunting spree, when in fact very few called for Mr. Jordan’s immediate resignation. If any underlying theme could be found, it is called truth-hunting — and CNN had an obligation to get it.
UPDATE: Check out the full NYO article here, and Wizbang links, and comments:
It will be interesting, assuming this is true, to see if Moonves calls Howards bluff.
My little birdie tells me that Howard is not so much going after Moonves as he has it in for Andrew Heyward and Dan Rather… As he sees it, they were the primary culprits and he (Howard) is being forced to take the fall.
And the Good Captain weighs in:
Normally, disputes like these reach resolution with the liberal application of cash, and undoubtedly CBS and its parent, Viacom, has plenty of it to toss at Howard, Murphy, and West. Unfortunately for CBS, Howard has more concern with his reputation than with cash for his long-term prospects, and CBS has done its best to knee-cap him for future jobs in the news business. Howard wants to make clear that he tried stopping the runaway train of Rather’s mouth and Mapes’ insistence of authenticity in the hours following the criticism of the memos — something the CBS report also confirms — and he hints that the responsibility for its continued momentum lies much higher up the food chain:
UPDATE 2: LaShawn Barber also has something to add:
I find myself in the ironic position of defending Howard, although at the time I read the report, I thought his ouster was justified. He should have pushed harder to exclude the documents and/or require more evidence of their authenticity from Mapes.
CBS got off easy, and many bloggers expressed the same sentiment after news of the firings. Dan Rather is still there, so we gained no satisfaction from the “resolution.” Despite the report’s conclusion that CBS, including Rather, mislead viewers, he and other top folks still have their jobs.
I’m behind Howard all the way on this, and I hope he’s aided by a blog swarm that forces CBS to either retract their statements about him or initiates another investigation into CBS. A real investigation this time.
And Michelle joins the fray.
Others offering their thoughts:
Dinocrat
Thoughts Online
INDC
Wizbang
Slant Point
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