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There were some loose ends remaining when we last left the story of “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace and his appearance at a birthday party for columnist Art Buchwald -- a party that just so happened to also be a fundraiser for the Brady Center, a prominent advocate of gun control laws. We’ll tie up those loose ends below.



First, some quick background. Wallace’s appearance raised questions for CBS News from some quarters, most notably from Cam Edwards, host of the Cam and Company show on nranews.com. At issue were comments made by Wallace at the event and the fact he showed a 47-second video of a past “60 Minutes” segment that, by Wallace’s own admission, cast former NRA President Charlton Heston in a less-than-favorable light.



We were asked what CBS News standards are on appearances such as these. Linda Mason, senior vice president for standards and special projects at CBS News at the time informed us that if a CBS correspondent becomes identifiable with one side of a controversial issue, that correspondent would no longer be allowed to cover that issue. When we asked if Wallace’s appearance in this case made him “identifiable” on this issue, Mason said CBS was looking into the matter to determine that.



I spoke with Mason late yesterday and she told me how CBS News will deal with this issue in the future. Mason said that if Wallace “suggests a story that we feel is a potential conflict, we’ll look at it and if we see a conflict, we’ll turn it down.” I take that to mean we won’t be seeing Mr. Wallace doing any more stories involving Second Amendment issues.

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Here’s a question we received from Cam Edwards, host of the Cam and Company show on nranews.com:

“On Sept. 28th of this year, Mike Wallace from ‘60 Minutes’ appeared at a Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence Event at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. During his appearance, Mr. Wallace used a clip from a ‘60 Minutes’ interview he conducted with then-NRA President Charlton Heston.



Does CBS have a policy regarding on air talent appearing at special interest events like this, and does CBS have a policy regarding use of their broadcast material at events like this? Further, do you believe Mr. Wallace and ‘60 Minutes’ have an ethical obligation to disclose Mr. Wallace's support for the Brady Center the next time the program does a story on guns and/or gun control?



I look forward to your response.

Since this is just the kind of question PE is here to help answer, I spoke with Linda Mason, the senior vice president for standards and special projects at CBS News and asked her what the policy is regarding these types of appearances. Here’s what she told me:

“We allow CBS correspondents to speak at various functions and occasionally show video. We have strict regulations that if a CBS correspondent becomes identifiable with one side of a controversial issue, they will not be allowed to cover that issue in the future.”

I asked Mason whether this appearance by Wallace raised him to the level of being “identifiable” with the cause of gun control and she told me, “we’re looking into it to determine” that.

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