Speechless? Part Deux

More mutterings.

Seems Bill Maher has been somewhat outspoken about the CBS Evening News "freeSpeech" segment. A few readers have been very displeased about what he's said, and accused CBS of playing dirty pool.

Over at Public Eye, they've been doing a little digging on the story, and gotten more details.

Key section:

In an e-mail, (CBS Evening News Executive Producer) Rome Hartman also said that Maher was not told the topic of religion was off limits, that all prospective "freeSpeech" participants are given "suggested topics" in order to yield timely commentary and avoid repetition. Hartman added, "no effort was made to dictate content to him or anyone else, other than that we have told everyone that we won't air personal attacks, and that we're seeking an overall tone of civility and respect, even while airing very divergent views."