CBS News has released the report on the Dan Rathergate Story regarding President Bush's Service in the Texas ANG.
The report concludes what we basically already know - that the folks who produced the story ignored any and all facts that did not fit their theory, and blindly rushed to air with a story that not only failed to meet even he most fundentental rules of journalistic integrity, but indeed was produced in active, knowing, conscious, and deliberate violation of every standard of responsible journalism.
To give CBS some credit here, the report is astonishingly damning, and at least the folks CBS hired to do the report "get it" - if this actually translates to CBS "getting it" remains to be seen, but it is certainly a decent first step.
The fact that the report basically exonerates Dan Rather will no doubt lead the GOP faithful to cry "whitewash", and the perception by Republicans of CBS as a defacto mouth-piece for the Democratic party will remain.
Here is the Report
Here is a link to the reports exhibits
Here is CBS's official response
The real story here, at least to me, is the erosion of the networks as the primary means of presenting "facts" to the American public, and the rise of the internet, the blogs, and alternative media as a counterweight to NBC, ABC, and CBS.
AS Dan Rather might put it.... "questions remains...."
1) Will the fact that this report exonerates Rather mean that CBS is regarded by the political right as even more baised, and thus deepen, rather than heal, the percieved idealogical slant of CBS...?
2) Will CBS actually change it's reporting habits and biases in a productive and meaningful way...?
3) Will other media outlets get "gun shy"... or will this whole matter have a positive effect on the media who know know that "a bunch of guys in pyjamas" can and will take them down if they screw up...?
4) How, if anybody, is a net political winner from this story....?
5) Who, if anybody, is a net political loser from this story...?
Discuss away 
Nice to see you posting again.
As to your first question, to a large extent the report IS a whitewash. CBS merely dumped Mapes et at to try to close the matter. Those familiar with CBS will note that the big boys got away with it again. No change should be expected in the slant from CBS.
As to your second question, no. If you look at the ratings for the CBS views division, they have shrunk down (they consistently run third) pretty close to their base (the Demographics of that base are pretty bad).
As to your third question, I suspect it will have little effect on most established media.
As to your fourth question, the 'new' media (internet, cable news, talk radio) scored a major victory!
The inverse is true for your fourth question. The ability of the liberal media to control the agenda has been shattered.
