Login HereThis MoveOn.org Video on Katie Couric and CBS News' repetition of Bush Administration talking points and lack of critical reporting has stirred up quite the hornet's nest at CBS. We posted this over the weekend, along with a number of other folks, including: KagroX at DKos; Nicole at Crooks and Liars; the folks at Brave New Films; and PoliticsTV.
A MoveOn.org member wrote CBS a polite note, criticizing the lack of skeptical reporting and the softball questions. Here is that e-mail:
From: [MoveOn member]
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 12:42 PM
To: CBS Evening News
Subject: Couric report from Iraq an embarassment to journalists everywhereHello,
I started watching Couric's series of reports hoping to learn something valuable. All I learned was that CBS is content to produce puff pieces scripted by the institutions it purports to be investigating.
I did not hear Couric push for real answers on one single issue! She simply took everything she was told and parrotted it back to the masses.
I'm embarassed and saddened. You should be too.
Regards,
[MoveOn member]
CBS' response? Take a look:
From: CBS Evening News < Evening@cbsnews.com>
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 11:45:01 AM
Subject: RE: Couric report from Iraq an embarassment to journalists everywhereActually most intelligent people were very impressed by the quality of our reports from Iraq and Syria ...Apparently you missed most of the interviews that were done over there...imagine you got your information from a blog somewhere... (emphasis mine)
Oh, I get it. Legitimate criticism from viewers can simply be ignored if you dismiss it as coming from a blog. But not asking the critical questions, repeating talking points wholesale, failing to follow-up when you are being snowed and charmed, and buying military spin outright while feeding it by the spoonful to your adoring public is just peachy? So much for the whole "journalistic integrity" canard. And the tanking ratings.
The two senior producers at CBS Evening News are Jim McGlinchy (jmp@cbsnews.com) and Betty Chin ( bc2@cbsnews.com). I'm working on e-mails to both them asking whether (a) this is the usual response of CBS to legitimate viewer criticism and (b) whether they would officially like to disavow this sort of customer non-service. I'll certainly let you know what, if any, response I get. No matter how snippy the response may be, the dodge and weave on the real issues on journalistic integrity come across loud and clear. Perhaps they should hear from you as well?
(As a reminder, here's what real reporters ought to be doing: here and here. Do read all the links in both pieces, they are quite enlightening.)
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Christy!
zed
Man, you are fast!
EPU’d from above:
Dennis Kucinich has been given a three hour appearance on the Ed Schultz show. He has been hitting home-runs, one after another.
Facts? Facts? What are facts??!!
Just noting that the e-mail sent to CBS didn’t point out anything specific. It just says they did a bad job.
Fact Checking should include things CBS said that are demonstrably untrue…(which you can get from many blogs *g*)
Watching Snowjob’s presser where all are enjoying a good laugh about the Code Pink people wanting to be heard. Hohoho, Les Kinsolving is just hilarious!
Thank God for Blogs, most especially FDL.
Jim and Betty need to get an earful from Greenwald too.
Our liberal media–still not liberal.
The snippy tone of the e-mail must reflect a lot of negative criticism they’ve been getting.
Quick!! Call the Waaaaaahmbulance.
Impressed by the quality of what? The video signal? the HD crispness of the picture?
Shorter CBS: Facts? We don’t need no stinkin’ facts!
Couric: Does my mascara look o.k.? How’s my hair?
zmulls at 5 — I know — it was a bland, polite, critical viewer e-mail. The response was bizarre.
BigMitch @ 3
Kucinich is making a very compelling case that he is the lone populist in the race. have to give him a lot of credit-he is right on every issue, especially health care and Iraq.
Katie Couric does not have “the sense that God gave a duck” either, to paraphrase the late Molly Ivins, as linked.
Network News departments are one of the few diffentiators that add value now that no one really needs to watch networks any more…too bad they are tossing their credibility away and turning themselves into propagandists.
Omigosh, Dennis Kucinich’s wife is a Brit.
Maybe Katie can cover Dannie Lynn’s birthday party with Entertainment Tonight and the Insider. Put on your serious face Katie and tell us about Larry Birkhead…
Christy Hardin Smith @ 11
Really, I’ll take CHS over CBS any day.
Oh, and bloggers are people too!
do-si-do @ 9
Maybe it’s Katie’s ability to be perky despite the fact her hair and makeup folks didn’t make the trip.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 11
Where I come from, we’d have called that a “snotty” response. Shame on them. CBS News used to stand for something and had the best journalists. Now - not so much.
Christy: It should be interesting to see how CBS News responds to your email. CBS News used to be a great company–in the 1980s when Paley and Rather were still around. It’s gone way south these days of Les Moonves (who put his wife Julie Chen in the Early Show) and Sean McManus.
Here’s McManus’s spin on the Kouric trip and CBS’s dive in ratings:
His spin is utterly laughable.
Kevster @ 12
WTF: are Americans so shallow that this guy doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance because he is under 5′10″? Sure looks that way.
Kevster @ 12
I’ve come to see Dennis as being the conscience of the true Democratic Party. I’m so glad he is there - I only wish he’d get more support. Makes you want to stand up and cheer, that guy.
I was just looking at this bit over at Romenesco:
The AP article it links to says that “Last week and Memorial Day week are the two least-watched CBS evening newscasts since at least 1987, and probably far earlier.”
Guess those “ill informed” blog readers are voting with their remote controls.
FYI:
I believe I just heard a Democratic press conference on the Petraeus report announced, to be aired live at (about) 1:30 p.m. today, on C-SPAN 1:
http://c-span.org/watch/cs_csp.....mp;Code=CS
OT but wanted to just send blessings to the people of Sumatra and environs who are suffering aftershocks and small tsunamis after a huge earthquake there. They had warning about the tsunamis but just think how terrified they are. BBC reporter said that their building in Jakarta swayed for “several minutes”.
BigMitch @ 14
And a Vegan!
Although I approved of the MoveOn ad about Petraeus (it effectively got the issue out there), I have to say they crossed the line on this one. I think it is entirely inappropriate to impose standards on someone from the entertainment industry that should legitimately be applied only to those in journalism.
BTW: Too bad the email from MoveOn mispelled “embarrassment” and “embarrassed.” *g*
didn’t katie the newsie say from the start that the military would be telling her what she could see and do, and what to say?
she is a tool in this, an actress, but I think she has provided the important info in her statement about it being a setup from the start. This is a perfect way to show how nothingless the newsies are on these stations. They are told exactly what they can or can’t say in their contracts. She probably risked hers by telling the public that it was a setup from day one.
let’s make damn sure the connection is CBS and the whitehouse, and leave the personality, or lack thereof, out of it.
or did this not happen? does any one have the link to the video?
raven @ 25
The snowball just melted!!!
They have no idea what those of us who read blogs know.
No idea that we are better informed than their viewers. No idea that we care more, research more intently, and fact-check better than their reporters.
No idea that they can’t keep spewing out crap forever.
Biodun @ 19
maybe someone can do a compare to the same time frame in past years including the ratings for US Open weeks to help ol’ Les see the BS in his ways.
james @ 29
I just finished my boca burger!
Biodun — That e-mail was from a MoveOn member, not MoveOn itself.
raven @ 25
I have recently taken a major step in the direction of being a vegan. Seeing her didn’t slow me down one bit. Especially when I heard her describe their Sunday mornings.
Sexist bastard, am I.
I know that if you read this, you got your information from a blog, but I just joined VoteVets.Org. I like their agenda.
donna @ 30
Oh, I think they know, and that’s what scares ‘em!
peanutbutter @ 4
Peanutbutter -
Facts are statistics you make up to serve your purpose - like the Petraeus report. You change the criteria to assure a different outcome then compare it against previous reports based on yet another criteria. Voila! You just made a fact. It’s magic!
QuakerGirl @ 37
I hear tell waving hands wildly in the air works too!
Whaaa???? You mean there is a show on CompleteBullShit that is called news? Gee, I guess I better get an antenna or dish or cable and start checking it out. Has katie started wearing thong bikinis on her show?
ET!!!!
Had a fascinating conversation with your debate opponent.
How the heck are you?
Breaking: The builder of the Titanic says, “We never expected it to float and it didn’t.”
Another real reporter-check out this excellent piece by Nancy Youssef from McClatchy diaried at DKos. She and her colleague Leila Fadel nail Petraeus’ inconsistencies, and show that it can be done if you just are willing to work at it.
CHS: Thanks for clarifying…
pow wow @ 23
I’m listening online, currently is Toy inspections, but I’ll let you know when it comes on.
At 5:30 EST, the Jones Report is rebroadcast, for those who are interested. I missed it and look forward to seeing it.
donna @ 30
No idea that they’ve become basically…not necessary to the dissemination of information - they may as well dry up and blow away. They missed the whole Internet revolution; they are trying to run their businesses as if all there is out there is still paper newspapers, tv and radio AND that all of those venues still have well-funded and professional news departments. They have this idea that “we” don’t know that they gutted their departments a long, long time ago. People WANT good quality information; they also know they won’t get it with MSM.
Ed*ard Teller @ 35
Good on ya, ET. And if I didn’t read blogs I would have no idea who Jon Soltz is. ;)
Go VoteVets! Go FDL!
I have no love for CBS or Couric - don’t watch them - but I agree with one of the first posts.
If a blog post was criticized as a “puff piece scripted by the institutions it purports to be investigating” containing no “real answers on one single issue“, you could only respond by doing the critic’s work for him/her, which seems a bit much.
This criticism is also too easy to evade: look, over here, a non-scripted point and a real answer. Better to take a puffy answer apart and demand improvement.
BigMitch @ 34
FWIW, ETette is on Western Washington University women’s crew team, the Division II national champs three years running. Almost the entire crew team is vegan or quasi-veggie. Apparently, none of them eat red meat.
I’ll be suggessting that Katie “Puff” Couric report from Syria interviewing Iraqi refugees who are leaving the Iraq that she described as “improving” in droves…70,ooo a month.
Couric needs to reach out and do some real reporting. Never could figure out why CBS gave Katie was her own show?
That report by Couric was ludicrous, and Couric demonstrated once and for all why many of us will not watch her evening ’so called” news program.
Hugh @ 26
Great snark, Hugh! I write to these infotainment companies on occasions such as this to tell them that they lost me as a viewer 20 years ago because of their inability to report real news. I tell them I get news from my favorite blogs because they are trustworthy and fact checked, unlike the Teevee and print stuff.
“Actually most intelligent people were very impressed by the quality of our reports from Iraq and Syria…”
Apparently, we’re just a bunch of dirty fucking stupid hippies.
“most intelligent people were impressed” - implying that if you weren’t impressed, it’s due to your lack of intelligence.
Ok. now it’s clear.
Gotta luv CBS blaming professional tennis for Couric’s lousy ratings.
raven @ 32
Being a vegan and a Brit is gonna kill Dennis.
I only eat fish usually ones that I catch. Most of my diet revolves around lentils, brown rice, and other grains like polenta and millet.
I make a mean mamaliga.
Whoa! What is wrong with vegans?
I’ve been a vegetarian for over forty years,
I’m not a mindless monster, in fact, I’ve even got a few of my wits left.
Why, I even know right from wrong.
Believe it or not!
Ed*ard Teller @ 47
I ain’t had no red meat since I quit drinkin, 13 years. 185, low blood pressure and swimmin my ass off!
kdh22 @ 36
Better than Katie or her producer that is for sure.
james @ 53
Ah, yes, but do you serve it with schmaltz?
David W. Bartoo @ 54
I don’t think anyone was dissin the lady at all.
BigMitch @ 39
I do hope Yossi is well! Doing great, getting prepared for more entries into the Dem primary for AK-at-large…Investigating on why the House Dems haven’t begun an ethics investigation into the Coconut Rd. earmark’s insertion, getting ready for a full plate of fall concerts. You still hosting your kids?
zennurse @ 43
Sorry, the Jones thing is commentary, not rebroadcast.
Setting up for the Dems now. (CSpan)
In all honesty, I thought the Move On email lacked specificty. it did not give any examples of the behavior complained of.
Thet is no excuse however, for the bitchsla response from CBS. “Intelligent viewers”? So, if you don’t love Katies crappy reporting your dumb?
maybe not. And the backhand swipe at news from a blog,
Hey CBS news, guess who’s putting you out of business? Yep, blogs.
who watches the 6.30 msm newscasts? i stopped watching as soon as i discovered all the outlets online…those newscasts are losing viewers and are nothing more than shills for whoever buys time there….imo
David W. Bartoo @ 55
Nothing wrong with it in my eyes, but the carnal crowd in America ain’t gonna take kindly to it. It will seem too “out there” and another reason to ignore the only guy who would really help this country get back on its feet.
Kucinich has said that he changed his eating habits due to some health problems, and that his health and stamina has been great ever since.
Wow - while I was getting epu’d below, y’all were posting up a storm already!
RE: the CBS News response - whew! Not very professional, was it? Insulting the writer’s intelligence , slamming blogs (unmentioned by the writer)– are they feeling just a wee bit defensive about their competition?
And CBS has other, em, lofty things to worry about besides “a blog somewhere”:
raven @ 56
Whoooo!!!!
Last drink 13 May 1987
ot - Reid/Levin live on CSPAN1 re Patreaus Report
Love This.
(via truthout)
Dear General Petraeus
By Marc Ash
t r u t h o u t | Question
Monday 10 September 2007
What is the mission?
mc @ 50
mc @ 50
juslin @ 62
Haven’t watched a news program in probably 2 years. Waste of time. They can’t seem to figure out why their rating s are falling but it’s because people just don’t believe them any more. IMO
raven @ 59
I know. Forgive my humor at the snarky.
Not all challenges are vertical. Compared to many Dennis is a GIANT!
If CBS had wanted to boost its ratings, they might have thought about having Lara Logan do a series of reports from the Middle East and hyping those rather than pushing Couric’s fluff and leaving Logan in the background. I would watch CBS News if I had some expectation that I would see some hard news presented there.
CHS -
Please, please, pleeeeeease…………if we promise to be very good pups?
May we see the e-mails you’re sending out?
nonplussed @ 6
I thought les had retired himself……..blast!
zennurse @ 69
I thought that was great. A one sentence column ! And it said it all.
LS @ 64
Hey - Kucinich is nothing in comparison, in my opinion, to Huckabee, who has tried to revolutionize Arkansas because of his weight loss. Not that I think he’s not doing something important for the kids in AR, but I should think a lot of people would find THAT a little creepy.
Ed*ard Teller @ 59
Every chance I get.
What I learned is that the fellow who took the conversation off the rails and into the rafters is a guy I know, who has a very sad story. A dentist who lost the use of one arm due to a motorcycle accident. This resulted in over-use of the other hand, and severe carpal tunnel syndrome. He is as far to the right as I am to the left, which, is pretty damned far, even in these precincts. FWIW, he was nuts before the accident.
David W. Bartoo @ 54
I have nothing against Vegans even if they are kind of pushy but Arcturans? Don’t get me started.
James @ 64
Aye, and mores the pity.
Who decides whether a candidate has substance?
Real people, or talking heads.
james @ 67
Hats off to you. Not sure if your talking about addiction, but we know denial and severe dysfunction can take down a family and we are witnessing a “dry drunk” take down our country slowly but surely. Iraq seems to be a tragic and immoral fatality of the Bush administrations severe state of denial.
On a related note, NPR sent a love letter to Bush yesterday morning.
First Ann Garrels did a report from some small neighborhood in Baghdad, essentially saying, “The surge is definitely working in this tiny three square mile area, it’s all flowers and rainbows. The US soldiers even let the Iraqis pet the magical ponies!”
Then the other report (some other reporter) was about Anbar, and how the Sunnis were successfully fighting off the al Qaeda super robot death machine that we all know walks the earth casting a shadow of evil.
Of course NPR didn’t point out that Baghdad is a city of 1.6 million people (or used to be) and covers over 80 square miles. Or that if the Sunnis are doing the work in Anbar what the hell is the US needed for.
NPR makes me ill.
Couric? We haven’t paid this individual any attention in years. I will resist repeating what Lahoma said about this person last night.
Toby Wollin @ 76
Huckabee also has a laudable position about music education in public schools. But like all good ideas it is too far out for his base.
Big Mitch-
That’s only part of it, I think. The more important part is that his willingness to cut through bullshit, to state uncomfortable facts, and not to constantly parrot platitudes about Americans being “exceptional” and never wrong, is too hard for most people, especially Americans (many, not all) to hear. So they tune him out, and he’s dismissed as flaky.
BigMitch @ 3
Put Kucinich(with out his habit for going on Faux Noise and sometime foot in mouth disease) in Obama’s body and with Obama’s charisma, and we’d have an absolute killer candidate.
Hugh @ 79
Arcturans?
I am very, very afraid.
Please, DON’T tell me,
I’m already having trouble
sleeping at night (or even in
the daytime)!
Joe Klein’s conscience @ 85
Dennis De Bergerac
i eat what i like and that includes foods listed on the food pyramid and i indulge in adult beverages lol
zennurse @ 70
Yeah, I was hoping someone would call him on it when he said that he was given a mission and was doing his best to perform it.
I wanted someone to ask him if he thought it was the appropriate mission given the needs of the nation and the world.
I, too, got a response from CBS in response to my e-mail. They didn’t get snippy with me, but did provide several links to reports Katie had done just in case I wanted to review them. I asked them in my reply, to “save it” and explained that if their reporting for the past 5 years had been a little more hard-nosed maybe 90 per cent of Americans would want a withdrawal from Iraq instead of the current 60 per cent.
puppethead @ 81
Baghdad has an estimated population of 6 million.
Reid:
Amendments will be offered to change the course, will reach out to Repubs. States known facts incl Iraq is in civil war, all burden on out military andit’s not working.
Bush promised surge would help establish civil govt, 30-60 days, now saying 18 months. objective assessments prove surge has failed, benchmarks not met via GAO, Jones report needs transition of mission, NIE shows AlQ building attack capability. Plan is neither drawdown or change in mission, to keep at least 130K troops in Iraq. Unacceptable. Long past time to change, hopes Repubs will agree, calls on them not to walk lockstep. It’s the Presiden’ts and Repub senators war.
Levin: Have to drop to limited missions, lower number of troops, Presurge level statement by bush is “open ended committment” to prevent real change. Attempt to take the wind out of sails of those who want change.
Petraeus was helpful in stating that the purpose was not achieved. also Iraqi leaders had not stepped up, and that many Iraqi soldiers want to take the lead but have not been allowed. Also told Levin, late in the day, he is now committed to continuing withdrawals below surge levels, may have been missed in coverage.
Couric might make a good Press Secretary in another Clinton administration. There is afterall a precedent. Tony Snow.
Re: blaming US Open coverage for the low ratings for Couric:
That’s also completely disingenuous: CBS and USA network coverage of that event from Queens, and CBS Evening News with Katie Couric were at different time-periods, and were in no way competing with each other.
Hugh @ 74
Like MSNBC/NBC giving KO a bigger platform lately, CBS should do the same for Lara Logan. She is way better than Katie Couric. So much better in the reporting/newsperson area. Besides, and this is something CBS ought to like, I bet giving Lara a bigger profile would attract a lot more male viewers than does Couric. So the get 2 for the price of one.
tejanarusa @ 84
Personally, I think Dennis would make a terrific VP candidate for anyone - but he’s from Ohio…everyone seems to think they’ve got to get someone from the South or the West to balance the ticket. But maybe an Edwards/Kucinich ticket?
ohhh decisions decisions…. what to eat - who to vote for - who to diss… its hard out here for a girrrl…after yestidday i need some yuks ok
Kathleen @ 56
They know they over-paid for fluffy cotton candy and have to defend Katie as they all sink with her. She wasn’t a terrific choice from the get-go. She represented shallow entertainment with an evening news format. Darn John Stewart. He messed everything up for them. Katie was supposed to be news entertainment. Advice to the exects: don’t follow; lead.