CBS fires 4 over Bush-Guard story
NEW YORK (AP) -- Four CBS employees were fired Monday following the release of an independent investigation into a "60 Minutes Wednesday" story about President Bush's military service that relied on forged documents.
The network fired Mary Mapes, producer of the report; Josh Howard, executive producer of "60 Minutes Wednesday" and his top deputy Mary Murphy; and senior vice president Betsy West.
Dan Rather, the anchor of the "CBS Evening News" who served as the story's correspondent, announced in November he would be stepping down from his anchor position in March. Rather did not mention the controversy when he made his announcement.
According to a CBS statement, an independent panel appointed by the network concluded that CBS News failed to follow basic journalistic principles in putting together the piece, which aired September 8. That failure was compounded with a "rigid and blind" defense of the report, the statement continued.
"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 report said, according to the CBS statement.
The panel, which was led by former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and former Associated Press President Louis Boccardi, added that -- despite accusations of political bias against CBS -- "[the panel] cannot conclude that a political agenda at '60 Minutes Wednesday' drove either the timing of the airing of the segment or its content."
Still, "the bottom line is that much of the September 8th broadcast was wrong, incomplete or unfair," Les Moonves, co-president of CBS parent Viacom, said in a statement announcing the firings.
CBS News dismissed four employees Tuesday, including three executives, in the aftermath of an investigation into a faulty news story about President George W. Bush. , who reported the story, is not included in these dismissals. 

The discharged employees were: Betsy West, senior vice president and overseer of CBS News primetime programs,  Josh Howard, ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' executive producer, Mary Murphy, senior broadcast producer and Mary Mapes, program producer. 

On Sept. 8, 2004 CBS presented in 60 Minutes Wednesday program, a story  about President George W. Bush   service during the . The news questioned Bush's commitment to service, saying he refused an order to appear for a physical exam and that Bush family tried to favour him. The news relied on four documents apparently written by  Lt. Col. Jerry Killian (already dead), Bush's Texas Air National Guard commanders in the early 1970s.

Critics said the documents were fake.  After standing its story for about 12 days CBS admitted they could not confirm the authenticity of the documents and asked former attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former  President Louis Boccardi to start  an independent investigation about it. 

The independent panel was not able to make any conclusions about the authenticity of the documents and found that political bias was not a factor, but it did criticize the producers for failing to follow basic journalistic principles when they made no attempt to verify their source's claims.

CBS President  said about the matter: ''We deeply regret the disservice this flawed 60 Minutes Wednesday report did to the American public, which has a right to count on CBS News for fairness and accuracy.''