Today's Top News Stories • Bush, Merkel seem off to a warm start - • Tornadoes, storms kill 1 in Ala., hurt 13 Fla. children - • Alito heads toward confirmation despite challenges - • Dec. producer prices jump 0.9%, but core PPI is tame - • Iran threatens to block inspections if referred to U.N. council - • Add USATODAY.com RSS feeds E-Mail Newsletters Sign up to receive our free Daily Briefing e-newsletter and get the top news of the day in your inbox. E-mail: Select one: HTML Text Breaking News E-Mail Alerts  Get breaking news in your inbox as it happens
CBS fires 4 over Bush Guard story By Peter Johnson, USA TODAY CBS News let four staffers go Monday for their role in last fall's disputed story about President Bush's National Guard service. CBS' 60 Minutes II questioned Bush's Vietnam War-era commitment to service in the Texas Air National Guard. George Bush Presidential Library, via AP The dismissals did not include anchor Dan Rather, who reported the story, or the executive who supervised all involved, CBS News President Andrew Heyward. An independent panel, led by former attorney general Richard Thornburgh and retired Associated Press chief Lou Boccardi, concluded that producers failed to follow basic journalistic principles in the preparation and reporting of the Sept. 8 piece. But the panel, in its report Monday, concluded that there was no sign of political or anti-Bush bias in the production of the story, as Bush supporters have charged. Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie praised CBS for issuing the report but said, "We should remember that today's report would not have come about without a vigilant public." Said White House spokesman Scott McClellan: "We appreciate the steps CBS has taken to hold people accountable, and we hope it will take further steps to prevent something like this from happening again." The panel, without naming names or handing out sanctions, also said CBS News compounded that failure with a "rigid and blind" defense of the 60 Minutes Wednesday report. Asked to resign were Betsy West, a CBS News senior vice president who supervised prime-time programs; and John Howard, executive producer of 60 Minutes Wednesday, and his senior producer, Mary Murphy. Rather's producer, Mary Mapes, was fired. (Rather announced in November that he'll step down as anchor of The CBS Evening News in March.) "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," CBS President Leslie Moonves said. At the root of the reporting fiasco, the panel said, was a "myopic zeal" to be the first news organization to break new ground about Bush's Guard service. That, the panel said, was key in explaining why CBS News had produced a story that was not fair or accurate and did not meet the organization's standards. The report said at least four factors that some observers described as a journalistic "perfect storm" had contributed to the decision to broadcast a piece that was seriously flawed. "The combination of a new60 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 piece was aired at the height of the presidential race between Bush and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry, prompting charges of political bias. But while the panel found that some actions taken by CBS News encouraged such suspicions, it "cannot conclude that a political agenda at 60 MinutesWednesday drove either the timing of the airing of the segment or its content." The story relied on four documents purportedly written by one of Bush's Texas Air National Guard commanders in the early 1970s by the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian. Questions about the authenticity of the documents arose immediately. The panel said it could not prove that the documents were forged. But it said CBS failed to authenticate them and falsely claimed that an expert had done so.
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.''