© Media Matters
Even now, nearly two months after it aired, almost nothing about CBS News' "exclusive" (and infamous)
60 Minutes report on Benghazi makes sense. From conception, to execution, to the network's
stubborn claims that the report met its high standards even as it publicly dissolved, the story on the Benghazi terror attack of 2012 quickly became a
case study in how not to practice journalism on the national stage. And in how dangerous it is to lose sight of fair play and common sense when wielding the power and prestige of the country's
most-watched news program.
The
60 Minutes Benghazi
hoax had it all: a flimsy political premise featuring previously
debunked myths, a correspondent with an
established agenda, a
blinding corporate conflict of interest, and an untrustworthy "witness" who apparently fabricated his story and had once
reportedly asked a journalist to pay him for his information. (The fact that the CBS Benghazi report was
widely hyped by an array of chronically inaccurate conservative media outlets represented another obvious red flag.)
When the Benghazi hoax first began to reveal itself, a chorus of veteran journalists
agreed that CBS had a pressing problem on its hands and that executives needed to address the mounting crisis. Instead CBS for days, led by
60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan and news chairman Jeff Fager,
defended the truly indefensible, until that became unfeasible.
The sad part is the Benghazi hoax wasn't an isolated incident this year at CBS. The colossal blunder certainly created the most controversy. But the type of ethical short cuts used in that report were visible elsewhere on the network. CBS News reports on health care reform, disability fraud, and
climate change in 2013 also
displayed a disturbing willingness to peddle misinformation under the guise of network news.
Comment: Will Russia and other countries around the world start pulling down GPS stations and other Western installations that are used for spying?