The Elephant In My Room
For some, whether or not Public Eye speaks out on Memogate has become a litmus test of our seriousness, guts and honesty. I think that's sort of silly. Our mission at Public Eye is to facilitate discussion, answer questions and open up the process at CBS News, not to offer my opinions in a straight “ombudsman” fashion.
Still, the question comes up over and over and lurks just beneath the surface of almost everything we do. The reality is that this week’s change of leadership at CBS News brings the issue to the forefront once again. A new account of the episode, written by former producer Mary Mapes, is also due to hit bookstores shortly. So I’ll try to address it here, offer some of my personal thoughts and, hopefully, help to answer some of the questions.
Long before PE debuted, the questions I was most often asked were: Would Memogate have happened if Public Eye had been around then? And, what difference would Public Eye have made?
Would the story have gone on the air? Probably, but it’s impossible to be certain. What I can say is it’s very unlikely I or anyone else at PE would have known about the story prior to the time the public in general was alerted to it. Even in the event we would have had any knowledge that “60 Minutes Wednesday” was preparing a story on President Bush’s National Guard service, we certainly would not have been involved in the preparation or vetting of it. Whether the mere presence of PE would have caused those in charge to be more cautious can’t be known but I doubt it.
What difference would PE have made? Well, from the day after the show on, we would have written about it. We would have noted the criticisms made on various blogs starting immediately after the show and would have asked CBS executives in charge about them. I like to think our involvement in that process would have altered the way in which CBS responded, that fuller answers would have been forthcoming in a timelier manner. The truth is, I don’t know.
Still, the question comes up over and over and lurks just beneath the surface of almost everything we do. The reality is that this week’s change of leadership at CBS News brings the issue to the forefront once again. A new account of the episode, written by former producer Mary Mapes, is also due to hit bookstores shortly. So I’ll try to address it here, offer some of my personal thoughts and, hopefully, help to answer some of the questions.
Long before PE debuted, the questions I was most often asked were: Would Memogate have happened if Public Eye had been around then? And, what difference would Public Eye have made?
Would the story have gone on the air? Probably, but it’s impossible to be certain. What I can say is it’s very unlikely I or anyone else at PE would have known about the story prior to the time the public in general was alerted to it. Even in the event we would have had any knowledge that “60 Minutes Wednesday” was preparing a story on President Bush’s National Guard service, we certainly would not have been involved in the preparation or vetting of it. Whether the mere presence of PE would have caused those in charge to be more cautious can’t be known but I doubt it.
What difference would PE have made? Well, from the day after the show on, we would have written about it. We would have noted the criticisms made on various blogs starting immediately after the show and would have asked CBS executives in charge about them. I like to think our involvement in that process would have altered the way in which CBS responded, that fuller answers would have been forthcoming in a timelier manner. The truth is, I don’t know.
Author Thomas Friedman on Obama's Afghanistan plan and the war on terror.
