'Sunday Morning' Apologizes Over David Pogue Segment

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: CBS News Issues

In January, CBS "Sunday Morning" aired a report by contributor David Pogue that discussed a data-recovery service called DriveSavers as part of a report on what to do when you lose information stored on your computer. Pogue also did the story for National Public Radio and the New York Times. What Pogue failed to mention in his "Sunday Morning" segment, as San Francisco Weekly's Matt Smith pointed out last week, was that Drivesavers repaired Pogue's personal computer for free. (The company normally charges $2,000 or more.)

A DriveSavers rep said Pogue's fee had been waived as a "professional courtesy," not as a de facto payment for good publicity. "In my view, that's a pretty significant violation of journalism's ethical conventions, ones I would have expected to have been in force at the gold standards of American print, television, and radio journalism," wrote Smith. "How is a reader, or viewer, or listener, to know a journalist's analysis is on the up and up if a writer receives expensive goodies from a story subject?"

On Sunday, seemingly in response to Smith's inquiry, Charles Osgood apologized on "Sunday Morning." Here's his statement in full:

In January, we aired a report by contributor David Pogue about your computer hard drive and what to do when all is lost – when you fear that novel you've been working on for years is lost forever. David did the same story for the New York Times back in September and in it he wrote that one of the companies reviewed in his on-line column had performed hard drive repairs on his computer on a complimentary basis, which is to say he got the repairs for free. In our "Sunday Morning" version of the story, however, he failed to mention that as he should have, and furthermore, CBS News standards bar any of us from accepting free goods or services. To make a long story short, David apologizes, and so do we.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by bob___k March 17, 2006 9:31 AM EST: The CBS standards only seem to apply if the reporter is caught with their hand in cookie jar.; Reply to this comment


by foobarbaz-2009 March 16, 2006 11:33 PM EST: The Culture of Corruption is apparent.; Reply to this comment


by mrcodpiece March 16, 2006 9:30 AM EST: Charles Kuralt would have never stood for such a lack of journalistic ethics on his show. Ever since Osgood took over the helm at Sunday Morning - the show has gone steadily downhill. What used to be an interesting show about unrecognized important people has degenerated into celebrity worshipping #@??. Reprimand Pogue and the producers - put Osgood out to pasture where he belongs.; Reply to this comment


by wbrisol March 16, 2006 2:53 AM EST: Mr. Pogue should be punished according to the rules. Seems like he is taking from the anti-America republican rule book!; Reply to this comment


by foobarbaz-2009 March 15, 2006 11:38 PM EST: What about the rest of the story...Does Mr. Pogue need to reimburse the company that provided the free service? Will CBS reimburse the company that provided the service? What good are the rules at CBS if they can be broken and all the network has to do is apologize?; Reply to this comment