All Blog Posts from Public Eye

Yesterday, we wrote about an update to the CBS News Standards. One new development is that all personal blogs written by CBS News employees must be approved by either Linda Mason, CBS News Senior Vice President, Standards and Special Projects, or Sean McManus, the President of CBS News. "We can't have people having personal blogs venting their opinions," Mason explained.

We wanted to bring your attention to some related questions being raised at the New York Times. Byron Calame writes in his "Public Editor" column about Linda Greenhouse, the Times’ Supreme Court reporter, who four months ago gave a speech at Harvard in which she said that the government "had turned its energy and attention away from upholding the rule of law and toward creating law-free zones at Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, Haditha, other places around the world, the U.S. Congress, whatever. And let’s not forget the sustained assault on women’s reproductive freedom and the hijacking of public policy by religious fundamentalism.”

The Times ethical guidelines require reporters not to express opinions publicly beyond what they would be allowed to write in the newspaper. "It seems clear to me that Ms. Greenhouse stepped across that line during her speech," writes Calame. "Times news articles are not supposed to contain opinion. A news article containing the phrase 'the hijacking of public policy by religious fundamentalism' would get into the paper only as a direct quote from a source."

Greenhouse argued to Calame that she was expressing "statements of fact," not opinion, which would thus be allowed in a news article.

It's not, obviously, the strongest argument. But there are some serious questions to be dealt with here, some of the same ones now being asked of CBS News. Calame writes that "as the influential Supreme Court reporter for The Times, a beat that touches nearly all areas of public policy, Ms. Greenhouse has an overriding obligation to avoid publicly expressing these kinds of personal opinions." But is that fair? Isn't it possible for a reporter to express an opinion in a speech – or, in the case of the updated CBS News standards, a blog – and still churn out unbiased work?

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CBS News employees recently received a revised version of the CBS News Standards book. I talked to Linda Mason, CBS News Senior Vice President, Standards and Special Projects, about the revisions.

One change from the previous version: A rule forbidding contributions to political campaigns. Such contributions had not been prohibited before.

"We want our reporters to be absolutely pure when they interview candidates of either side or issues that relate to either side," said Mason. "Today, with the instant reporting of political contributions, it has become obvious who gives and to whom, and this we felt would compromise the people who were doing reporting involved with political issues."

I asked Mason why a reporter can't be balanced and still contribute to a campaign. Isn't there a concern that the organization is impinging on the right to free speech of its employees?

"That's fair to argue, and in fact it has been argued here," said Mason. "Our feeling is if you indicate in any way support for one party or another, your reporting will be challenged. Now, somebody took it a step further and said that if you looked at the whole organization there would be a certain number of people for Republicans, a certain number for Democrats, and they kind of cancel each other out. But the problem is each story is looked at as an individual story, and not everybody watches everything on CBS News, so we came to this conclusion."

Another new rule is that prior approval from Mason or CBS News President Sean McManus is required for any outside writing, speeches or blogs.

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Last night we received an email from "DYN175" asking the following:

What are the standards at CBS News for reporting vs. editorializing?

On the "CBS Evening News" tonight, February 14th, [Capitol Hill Correspondent] Sharyl Attkisson gave a report on Homeland Security Secretary [Michael] Chertoff and his actions dealing with Hurricane Katrina. In the Q&A after the report, [anchor] Bob Schieffer turned to her and asked, "Do you think, Sharyl, that Chertoff's job is on the line here?"

Such a question clearly requires the reporter to state a personal opinion. It would seem to me that this would cross the line into editorializing. Does CBS News have any written standards on this?

I talked to Bob Schieffer about that issue and the question and answer portion of the "Evening News" more generally.

"We're not trying to have people give personal opinions," says Schieffer. "We're trying to explain, to put things into context." He added: "There has been all this behind the scenes questioning and whispering about whether Chertoff will lose his job, and that's why I asked her about it."

Schieffer compares the question and answer portion of the "Evening News" broadcast to a sidebar in a newspaper. "The main story covers the who, what, where, why, and when, and the sidebar offers analysis, color, some detail that you couldn't get into in the main story," he says.

Such offerings are essential, he says, if the "Evening News" wants to compete in a crowded news environment.

"If the evening newses are going to survive – and I'm talking about all of them, not just us – they have to evolve beyond what they have been. If all we're going to do is put on a minute and a half piece that's the same as the minute and a half piece that's been running on cable all day, we're not going to make it." He says the question and answer exchange with correspondents, which fall somewhere between straight reporting and cable news-style editorializing, makes for content that sets the "Evening News" apart.

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Linda Mason, who PE readers know by now as the senior vice president for standards and special projects at CBS News, yesterday informed CBS News employees of the network’s rules concerning personal blogging. Mason, who is updating and overseeing the network’s standards sends out reminders and updates from time to time. Yesterday’s caught our eye because, well, it concerns blogging. Here’s what Mason advised:

“In this time of the exponential growth of blogs, there are CBS News employees who are creating and maintaining personal blogs. Before any such blog is created, the SVP of Standards must be informed and must approve the blog . For those of you who are already in the blogosphere, you must contact the SVP of Standards. There can be no messages or information posted on these blogs that is potentially damaging to CBS News if made public.”

Outside blogging by journalists, and employees of other industries, has been a point of contention in the past and some bloggers have lost their jobs, even when operating anonymously. And certainly there is a responsibility for those in the media to take care with perceptions, but how easily are blogs policed? Should people, even those in the media, have the freedom to blog about what they would like?

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We have turned to her many times to answer questions about how CBS News’ standards apply to its programs and employees and now you’ll have a chance to learn a little bit more about Linda Mason, Senior Vice President of Standards and Special Projects at CBS News. Mason has a long history at CBS – she started as a radio desk assistant in 1966 – and she has held a variety of positions, from being the first female producer at the “Evening News” to executive producer of “Sunday Morning.” Check out her full bio here and e-mail us your questions.

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