CBS exonerates Rather- How will this effect future election coverage?

[J. J.]

I though the report was damning enough, and I wouldn't expect anchors to be anything but "face men/women."

[J. J.]

Lie about military records...  Get fired...  Lie the country into war...  Receive medals... *sigh

If you are claiming to be a journalist and you lie about something, that was and is a reason for firing the person.  Not checking your sources properly is also a cause.  If you lie about something, you might be an attorney, but you are operating outside journalistic ethics.

Yes, this should have been handled better, but it became clear that this couldn't be verified, CBS should have backed away immediately; they didn't.  Hopefully, they will in a future case.

[J. J.]

Lie about military records...  Get fired...  Lie the country into war...  Receive medals... *sigh

If you are claiming to be a journalist and you lie about something, that was and is a reason for firing the person.  Not checking your sources properly is also a cause.  If you lie about something, you might be an attorney, but you are operating outside journalistic ethics.

Yes, this should have been handled better, but it became clear that this couldn't be verified, CBS should have backed away immediately; they didn't.  Hopefully, they will in a future case.

However, if you're the President and you lie, that is reason for re-selecting.

Since I'm one of few people here not suggesting that Dan Rather be fired, I would suggest that he reasonable cause to believe the storry.  I would say the same about George W. Bush regarding WMD's.  He had reason to believe it, as any number of other people, including John Kerry did.