NEW YORK, Jan 10 (AFP) - CBS television sacked three executives and a producer Monday after an independent probe concluded "myopic zeal" led to a disputed report critical of President George W. Bush's military service.
The announcement coincided with publication of the independent panel's findings which charged CBS News with failing to follow basic journalistic principles in the 60 Minutes report in September.
That failure, the panel said, was compounded by a "rigid and blind" defence after questions were raised over the authenticity of documents used to back allegations that political pressure had been exerted to sugarcoat Bush's record in the Texas Air National Guard more than 30 years ago.
Among those fired were Senior Vice President Betsy West, who supervised CBS News primetime programs, 60 Minutes Executive Producer Josh Howard and his deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy.
The producer of the Bush piece, Mary Mapes, was also ousted.
Veteran CBS newsman Dan Rather, who presented the report, has already said he will step down as the network's evening news anchor in March.
The independent panel identified at least four factors that contributed to the decision to broadcast a piece that was seriously flawed.
"The combination of a new 60 Minutes Wednesday management team, great deference given to a highly respected producer and the network's news anchor, competitive pressures, and a zealous belief in the truth of the segment seem to have led many to disregard some fundamental journalistic principles," the panel said.
The Bush piece was aired when the presidential race between Bush and his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, was in full flow, prompting charges of political bias against CBS News.
"The panel cannot conclude that a political agenda ... drove either the timing of the airing of the segment or its content," the panel said, while adding that some actions taken by CBS News had encouraged such suspicions.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said he hoped CBS would take note of the panel's report and implement its recommendations.
"CBS has taken steps to hold people accountable, and we appreciate those steps," McClellan said. "We also hope that CBS will take steps to prevent something like this from happening again."
Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie welcomed the exposure of what he described as CBS News' "unprofessional conduct."
The 60 Minutes broadcast had relied on four documents allegedly written by late lieutenant colonel Jerry Killian, Bush's commanding officer in the Texas National Guard in the 1970s.
While the panel said did not brand the Killian documents outright forgeries, it raised serious questions about their authenticity and the way CBS News handled them.
After rushing the piece to air, the panel said, CBS News shot itself in the foot by blindly defending the story and missing opportunities to set the record straight.
"The panel finds that once serious questions were raised, the defense of the segment became more rigid and emphatic, and that virtually no attempt was made to determine whether the questions raised had merit," it said.
The panel, led by former US attorney general Dick Thornburgh and former Associated Press president Louis Boccardi, made a number of recommendations, including the appointment of a Standards and Practices Executive who would report directly to the CBS News president.
It also urged the network to "foster an atmosphere in which competitive pressure is not allowed to prompt airing of reports before all investigation and vetting is done."
01/10/2005 19:25 GMT - AFP