Wednesday, November 27, 2013

CBS News Removes Reporter And Producer Of Controversial Benghazi Episode On 60 Minutes News Show

This article describes the vetting failures that caused CBS News to present a false account of what happened during the attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi, Libya.  The show featured the story of a contract employee of the embassy who claimed that he witnessed the attack.  The contract employee had previously told his employer and the FBI that he was not present during the attack.  The contract employee had also written a book using the false account of his presence at the embassy.  The book had been published by a subsidiary of CBS News, and it has been withdrawn from the market.  The CBS News reporter also had a conflict of interest.  She had previously taken a position on the attack that was consistent with the information presented by the contract employee on the 60 Minutes News Show.

CBS News was embarrassed by its failure to properly vet a politically controversial account of the Benghazi attack which has been promoted by the GOP.  They removed their reporter and her producer in order to protect the integrity of the reporting on the popular 60 Minutes show.  Its a pity that Fox News which has also featured controversial reporting on Benghazi, using information from the discredited contract employee, has not apologized for its vetting failures.  Apparently, Fox News has no reporting integrity to protect. 

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