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Mary Mapes : Don't let the door hit you in the a** on your way out
CBS Producer on Thin Ice After Guard StorySpotlight Hits Behind-The-Scenes CBS Producer for Her Role in National Guard Documents Flap The Associated Press NEW YORK Sept. 21, 2004 — The fallout from CBS's doomed story about President Bush's National Guard service most endangers a woman few viewers know but who played a key role in two of the biggest television stories of the year. Abu Gharib was a few nitwits reported as endemic. Why? Mary Mapes, a veteran producer at CBS News, reported most of the National Guard story, including obtaining the documents CBS now says it can't authenticate. She also passed on the phone number of her source, former Texas National Guard officer Bill Burkett, to the Kerry campaign. Joel Lockhart, check your voice mail....pronto! Mapes, 48, was described by colleagues on Tuesday as a dogged and talented journalist who made no secret of her liberal political beliefs. Then she should be put near anything breakable... . . . It's particularly damaging when news coverage is being scrutinized by both sides of a bitter political divide, said Frank Sesno, former CNN Washington bureau chief and professor at George Mason University. Even before this story, Rather and CBS News were targets of groups concerned about an anti-Republican bias in the media. Someone out to get Danny Boy? Really? The Lockhart contact "is going to cast more doubt on not just the practices, but the motives behind the story," Sesno said. "She's done many, many solid stories in her career," Fager said. "How this went so horribly wrong is a mystery to many of us and I like forward to hearing the details." Frank Sesno : I like juicy gossip, just like the next guy! Posted by: BigEd 2004-09-21 |
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