Selling Their Souls To The Devil

(I’d Rather Not, but Not Dan Rather)

I have posted frequently on the Dan Rather “Memogate,” “Rathergate,” or “whatever-you-prefer-to-call-it” story ever since it broke back on September 10th, 2004.

I, like most of my fellow bloggers, have a small axe (ok, ok, a really big AXE) to grind regarding the handling of the story by the so-called independent investigation committee that issued their so-called independent report four months later on January 10th of this year.

CBS Executive Producer and 60 Minutes Wednesday Anchor Dan Rather was allowed to retire (next month) and CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves was left standing after the initial round of dust settled.

Mary Mapes, the Texas Air National Guard 60 Minutes segment producer, was outright terminated and three other sacrificial lambs, Betsy West, Joshua Howard, and Mary Murphy were also asked to resign.

Everyone issued a collective sigh of relief and all was supposed to be well in “Main Stream Media Land” as a result—they had most definitely learned their lesson and would never, ever (fingers and toes crossed) let something like this kind of thing ever happen again…snicker…chuckle…

Well, a giant meteor has just hit the ground in New York City, because the “sacrificial lambs” have hired lawyers and might just be “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

Just like a lot of death row inmates get a bad case of "prison religion", The New York Observer reports this morning that it seems that the three CBS employees have got a little dose of the Holy Ghost and have seen the errors in the ways of CBS management pushing them out the door.

"Mr. Howard, those sources said, has hired a lawyer to develop a breach-of-contract suit against the network. Ms. Murphy and Ms. West have likewise hired litigators, according to associates of theirs, and all three remain CBS employees and collect weekly salaries from the company that asked them to tender their resignations.

None would agree to participate in this article.

Legally, CBS and the ousted staffers are in an unusual stalemate: The network cannot be sued for breach of contract unless it actually fires them. Theoretically, the network could refuse to offer an apology or correct statements and simply drag its feet, continuing to write paychecks to the trio until their contracts expire. (Neither side would discuss how long the contracts are scheduled to last.)

But Mr. Howard’s complaint about Mr. Moonves’ remarks could pose a serious problem for CBS. Sources close to Mr. Howard said he believes that the report—which was assembled by an outside team of former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and former Associated Press head Louis Boccardi Jr.—contradicts Mr. Moonves’ statement about Mr. Howard’s share of the blame.

Mr. Howard also believes, those sources said, that the report itself excludes evidence that would implicate top management at CBS and restore Mr. Howard’s reputation in the television news business.

A senior official at CBS told NYTV that Mr. Howard’s claims had no basis in fact and that management had only acted on the findings of the report, which the company deemed thorough, accurate and independent."

You got to love it everybody, and I hope that these individuals get their day in court.

But like I said in the beginning, they might just be guilty of…

Selling Their Souls to The Devil

(and people in Hell want ice water)