{"id":191,"date":"2014-09-25T19:43:08","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T19:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/gobehindthenews\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=191"},"modified":"2014-10-22T16:42:43","modified_gmt":"2014-10-22T16:42:43","slug":"deconstructing-television-news-evaluating-sources-through-cbs-benghazi-story-debacle","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/chapter\/deconstructing-television-news-evaluating-sources-through-cbs-benghazi-story-debacle\/","title":{"raw":"Deconstructing Television News, Evaluating Sources through CBS\u2019 Benghazi Story Debacle","rendered":"Deconstructing Television News, Evaluating Sources through CBS\u2019 Benghazi Story Debacle"},"content":{"raw":"<h1>Deconstructing Television News, Evaluating Sources through CBS\u2019 Benghazi Story Debacle<\/h1>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nNovember 20, 2013\r\n<img alt=\"Screen Shot 2013-11-20 at 10.35.18 AM\" src=\"http:\/\/www.centerfornewsliteracy.org\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Screen-Shot-2013-11-20-at-10.35.18-AM-640x391.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"391\" \/>The CBS newsmagazine \u201c60 Minutes\u201d recently apologized for broadcasting a flawed report on one of the most contentious events in recent U.S. diplomatic history. Narrated by CBS correspondent Lara Logan, the report concerned events that took place Sept. 11, 2012, in Benghazi, Libya, when gunmen stormed a U.S. diplomatic compound and set its main building on fire. U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and State Department computer expert Sean Smith, trapped inside, died of smoke inhalation. Hours later, attackers assaulted a CIA compound nearby, killing two security contractors.\r\n\r\nThe \u201c60 Minutes\u201d segment was controversial from the moment it was broadcast (Oct. 27, 2013), and its credibility soon came into question. One obvious problem was that it relied on another security contractor, Dylan Davies, whose story turned out to be a lie. Logan and CBS executives said they were sorry and that \u00a0\u201cit was a mistake to include him in our report,\u201d \u00a0saying they had been \u201cmisled.\u201d \u00a0But numerous outside critics say the apology was inadequate and raised more questions than it answered. This close examination of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2013\/11\/13\/208446\/questions-about-60-minutes-benghazi.html\" target=\"_blank\">controversial piece by another news outlet, McClatchy, <\/a> shows that there are other problems with the report, beyond its untruthful, hence unreliable, source:\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>CBS did not reveal that Davies, on whose recollections the report was largely based, was the author of a soon-to-be released book published by a CBS-owned publishing company that features the work of politically conservative authors.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>On Oct. 31, The Washington Post revealed that Davies had filed a report with his employer, Blue Mountain Security, that contradicted his \u201c60 Minutes\u201d account, and The New York Times revealed Nov. 7 that Davies also gave an account to the FBI at odds with the \u201c60 Minutes\u201d version.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The report repeatedly referred to al Qaida as solely responsible for the attack on the compound and made no mention of another Islamic extremist group that has long been suspected. Al Qaida has never claimed responsibility for the attack, and the FBI, which is leading the U.S. investigation, has never named al Qaida as the sole perpetrator.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Equally questionable was Logan\u2019s unsourced reference to the Benghazi Medical Center as being \u201cunder the control of al Qaida terrorists\u201d \u00a0\u2013 an assertion that McClatchy correspondents on the ground at the time and subsequent reporting in Benghazi indicates is untrue.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The report also named three known insurgent operators as top suspects in the attack but did not explain the source of that assertion. There is no evidence of their roles in the attack.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Davies told \u201c60 Minutes\u201d he had gone to the diplomatic compound site during the attack, climbed a 12-foot-high wall and struck one of the attackers in the head with his rifle butt before discovering Ambassador Stevens\u2019 body at the hospital. All of these claims contradicted multiple reports that have emerged in the year since the attacks.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe uproar over the inaccurate interview, shoddy reporting and inadequate apology reminded many of a previous CBS News scandal, when then-anchorman <a href=\"http:\/\/mediamythbusters.com\/index.php?title=Rathergate\" target=\"_blank\">Dan Rather relied apparently forged documents in 2004 while reporting about President George W. Bush\u2019s National Guard service.<\/a>\u00a0Four CBS employees lost their jobs over the report and Rather later went into early retirement.\r\n\r\n<strong>QUESTIONS <\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>What if any other journalistic flaws did McCalthcehy and other critics of CBS uncover?<\/li>\r\n\t<li>What might \u00a0Dylan Davies\u2019 connection to a CBS-owned publisher suggest?<\/li>\r\n\t<li>CBS said that it was undertaking \u201ca journalistic review that is ongoing\u201d \u2013 the network\u2019s first acknowledgement that concerns about the report may go deeper than just the discredited interview with security supervisor \u2013 but declined to respond to questions about the accuracy and origin of some of the other aspects of the report. \u201c60 Minutes\u201d spokesman Kevin Tedesco said CBS had begun the review \u201cthe moment we confirmed there was an issue in our story,\u201d but declined to elaborate or respond to specific issues raised about the segment, including unsourced assertions that al Qaida was behind the Benghazi attacks and claims about the investigation that the FBI and other experts question or deny outright. Why? Does CBS News have an obligation to respond?<\/li>\r\n\t<li>After The New York Times story was posted online, CBS quickly purged its websites of any mention of the piece and even demanded that a copy of the segment be removed from YouTube. Do you think that is fair\u2014or part of a coverup?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong> ADDITIONAL RESOURCES <\/strong>\r\n\r\nJournalism Experts Criticize \u201cSeverely Lacking\u201d and \u201cFlimsy\u201d 60 minutes correction\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.spundge.com\/@\/saved_item\/293921\/?utm_source=notifications&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=brief\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.spundge.com\/@\/saved_item\/293921\/?utm_source=notifications&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=brief<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nLara Logan\u2019s Bogus \u201cCorrection\u201d\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/edblog\/lara-logan-s-bogus-correction\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/edblog\/lara-logan-s-bogus-correction<\/a><\/li>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/story\/2013\/11\/13\/1255207\/-That-won-t-do-CBS-That-won-t-do\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/story\/2013\/11\/13\/1255207\/-That-won-t-do-CBS-That-won-t-do<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nLara Logan shares thoughts on Benghazi prior to \u201960 Minutes\u2019 apology\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/style-blog\/wp\/2013\/11\/11\/watch-lara-logan-shares-thoughts-on-benghazi-prior-to-60-minutes-apology\/\">http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/style-blog\/wp\/2013\/11\/11\/watch-lara-logan-shares-thoughts-on-benghazi-prior-to-60-minutes-apology\/<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWe have also curated a number of video materials for your use in the classroom, along with the original 60 Minutes piece, and the subsequent apology which aired the following week. <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/folderview?id=0B6mgAy5NdTA3QmFsYnZPbFNMMlk&amp;usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\">See all of the pieces at this link.<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<h1>Deconstructing Television News, Evaluating Sources through CBS\u2019 Benghazi Story Debacle<\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>November 20, 2013<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2013-11-20 at 10.35.18 AM\" src=\"http:\/\/www.centerfornewsliteracy.org\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Screen-Shot-2013-11-20-at-10.35.18-AM-640x391.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"391\" \/>The CBS newsmagazine \u201c60 Minutes\u201d recently apologized for broadcasting a flawed report on one of the most contentious events in recent U.S. diplomatic history. Narrated by CBS correspondent Lara Logan, the report concerned events that took place Sept. 11, 2012, in Benghazi, Libya, when gunmen stormed a U.S. diplomatic compound and set its main building on fire. U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and State Department computer expert Sean Smith, trapped inside, died of smoke inhalation. Hours later, attackers assaulted a CIA compound nearby, killing two security contractors.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201c60 Minutes\u201d segment was controversial from the moment it was broadcast (Oct. 27, 2013), and its credibility soon came into question. One obvious problem was that it relied on another security contractor, Dylan Davies, whose story turned out to be a lie. Logan and CBS executives said they were sorry and that \u00a0\u201cit was a mistake to include him in our report,\u201d \u00a0saying they had been \u201cmisled.\u201d \u00a0But numerous outside critics say the apology was inadequate and raised more questions than it answered. This close examination of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/2013\/11\/13\/208446\/questions-about-60-minutes-benghazi.html\" target=\"_blank\">controversial piece by another news outlet, McClatchy, <\/a> shows that there are other problems with the report, beyond its untruthful, hence unreliable, source:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CBS did not reveal that Davies, on whose recollections the report was largely based, was the author of a soon-to-be released book published by a CBS-owned publishing company that features the work of politically conservative authors.<\/li>\n<li>On Oct. 31, The Washington Post revealed that Davies had filed a report with his employer, Blue Mountain Security, that contradicted his \u201c60 Minutes\u201d account, and The New York Times revealed Nov. 7 that Davies also gave an account to the FBI at odds with the \u201c60 Minutes\u201d version.<\/li>\n<li>The report repeatedly referred to al Qaida as solely responsible for the attack on the compound and made no mention of another Islamic extremist group that has long been suspected. Al Qaida has never claimed responsibility for the attack, and the FBI, which is leading the U.S. investigation, has never named al Qaida as the sole perpetrator.<\/li>\n<li>Equally questionable was Logan\u2019s unsourced reference to the Benghazi Medical Center as being \u201cunder the control of al Qaida terrorists\u201d \u00a0\u2013 an assertion that McClatchy correspondents on the ground at the time and subsequent reporting in Benghazi indicates is untrue.<\/li>\n<li>The report also named three known insurgent operators as top suspects in the attack but did not explain the source of that assertion. There is no evidence of their roles in the attack.<\/li>\n<li>Davies told \u201c60 Minutes\u201d he had gone to the diplomatic compound site during the attack, climbed a 12-foot-high wall and struck one of the attackers in the head with his rifle butt before discovering Ambassador Stevens\u2019 body at the hospital. All of these claims contradicted multiple reports that have emerged in the year since the attacks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The uproar over the inaccurate interview, shoddy reporting and inadequate apology reminded many of a previous CBS News scandal, when then-anchorman <a href=\"http:\/\/mediamythbusters.com\/index.php?title=Rathergate\" target=\"_blank\">Dan Rather relied apparently forged documents in 2004 while reporting about President George W. Bush\u2019s National Guard service.<\/a>\u00a0Four CBS employees lost their jobs over the report and Rather later went into early retirement.<\/p>\n<p><strong>QUESTIONS <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What if any other journalistic flaws did McCalthcehy and other critics of CBS uncover?<\/li>\n<li>What might \u00a0Dylan Davies\u2019 connection to a CBS-owned publisher suggest?<\/li>\n<li>CBS said that it was undertaking \u201ca journalistic review that is ongoing\u201d \u2013 the network\u2019s first acknowledgement that concerns about the report may go deeper than just the discredited interview with security supervisor \u2013 but declined to respond to questions about the accuracy and origin of some of the other aspects of the report. \u201c60 Minutes\u201d spokesman Kevin Tedesco said CBS had begun the review \u201cthe moment we confirmed there was an issue in our story,\u201d but declined to elaborate or respond to specific issues raised about the segment, including unsourced assertions that al Qaida was behind the Benghazi attacks and claims about the investigation that the FBI and other experts question or deny outright. Why? Does CBS News have an obligation to respond?<\/li>\n<li>After The New York Times story was posted online, CBS quickly purged its websites of any mention of the piece and even demanded that a copy of the segment be removed from YouTube. Do you think that is fair\u2014or part of a coverup?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong> ADDITIONAL RESOURCES <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Journalism Experts Criticize \u201cSeverely Lacking\u201d and \u201cFlimsy\u201d 60 minutes correction<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.spundge.com\/@\/saved_item\/293921\/?utm_source=notifications&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=brief\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.spundge.com\/@\/saved_item\/293921\/?utm_source=notifications&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=brief<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lara Logan\u2019s Bogus \u201cCorrection\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/edblog\/lara-logan-s-bogus-correction\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/edblog\/lara-logan-s-bogus-correction<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/story\/2013\/11\/13\/1255207\/-That-won-t-do-CBS-That-won-t-do\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/story\/2013\/11\/13\/1255207\/-That-won-t-do-CBS-That-won-t-do<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lara Logan shares thoughts on Benghazi prior to \u201960 Minutes\u2019 apology<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/style-blog\/wp\/2013\/11\/11\/watch-lara-logan-shares-thoughts-on-benghazi-prior-to-60-minutes-apology\/\">http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/style-blog\/wp\/2013\/11\/11\/watch-lara-logan-shares-thoughts-on-benghazi-prior-to-60-minutes-apology\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We have also curated a number of video materials for your use in the classroom, along with the original 60 Minutes piece, and the subsequent apology which aired the following week. <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/folderview?id=0B6mgAy5NdTA3QmFsYnZPbFNMMlk&amp;usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\">See all of the pieces at this link.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"menu_order":12,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-191","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":22,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/191\/revisions\/192"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/22"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/191\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/snhu-gobehindthenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}