Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer story on the troubles at the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric — a story bulging with anti-Couric quotes from anonymous CBSers — included a revealing window into the news network’s intolerant liberal mindset, with the newsroom in “an uproar” after the father of a slain high school student was given roughly 60 seconds to condemn the lack of morality in public schools and said the culture of abortion devalues human life.
“‘There's a difference between free speech and responsible speech,’ an embarrassed correspondent says,” according to Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Gail Shister.
The revelation of how staffers were revolted by the short conservative comment came deep in the story about CBS’s troubles, much of which recounted the clashes between the celebrity Couric and CBS News veterans. But, Shister noted, “for many CBS News staffers, the nadir was a ‘Free Speech’ segment Oct. 2,” following the murders of five Amish schoolchildren. Brian Rorbaugh, the father of a student killed at Columbine High School in 1999, was granted a minute of CBS’s airtime to blame the “moral free-fall” of today’s society.
Here’s part of what Rorbaugh said that night:
When my son Dan was murdered on the sidewalk at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, I hoped that would be the last school shooting. Since that day, I’ve tried to answer the question, "Why did this happen?"This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value.
We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children.
CBS staffers were apparently infuriated -- even though Rorbaugh’s segment was clearly his own personal commentary, and other FreeSpeech segments on CBS featured liberal commentators like the far-left The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel and liberal Illinois Senator Barack Obama or featured liberal points of view, like Bob Schieffer's September 13 editorializing against the Bush administration's "secret prisons" saying the U.S. has adopted "the methods of our enemies." (No "uproar" over that?)
Shister revealingly wrote:
One of the early casualties was "Free Speech," a segment in which ordinary people as well as celebrities sounded off on various issues.For many CBS News staffers, the nadir was a "Free Speech" segment Oct. 2, the day five Amish schoolgirls were murdered in Lancaster County.
The father of a child killed in Colorado's Columbine High School massacre in 1999 blamed the Amish tragedy, in part, on the teaching of evolution in public schools and on abortion.
Despite CBS's avowed intention to include all viewpoints in "Free Speech," the segment caused an uproar in the newsroom, according to CBS insiders.
"There's a difference between free speech and responsible speech," an embarrassed correspondent says.
It was another significant misstep in Couric's uphill climb to legitimacy, a trek that seems to grow steeper by the day.
If CBS’s cadre of correspondents is mad because a few seconds of airtime was given over to a social conservative point of view, then the problems at CBS News go so deep that it may not matter who sits in the anchor chair.
—Rich Noyes is Research Director at the Media Research Center.
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Katie, who'd a thunk it
April 24, 2007 - 11:20 ET by Cool ArrowAnybody remember the GMA show when Katie KuriK advocated the castration of a man who jilted his fiancee at the altar.
I don't remember even the degenerate Dan Rather stooping that low.
And it surprises ANYONE that this 'rude thoughtless perky little pig' has trouble keeping Schiefer's following?
Maybe CBS should hire a new focus group.
It all sort of sums up the Le
April 24, 2007 - 11:21 ET by GalvanicIt all sort of sums up the Left's view of 'free speech.' It's free as long as it's 'responsible,' meaning aligned with the network's agenda.
'Responsible speech,' relabeled 'balance of bias,' is also Prince Albert Gore's whipping stick on the media. When it comes to global warming, Gore has scolded the MSM for irresponsibly broadcasting dissenting views or facts, regardless of how little detail is presented. Gore tells the MSM that it's their job to diminish the voices of dissent, because afterall, "The debate is over."
Galv,This is the kind of &quo
April 24, 2007 - 12:15 ET by Chris NormanGalv,
This is the kind of "1984" talk that I find absolutely chilling. This is the kind of talk one would find in the constitution of the Soviet Union - that there is "Freedom of Responsible Speech". Your reminder of Al Gore's "Bias of Balance" strengthens my belief that the Global Warming movement will use the issue as a Trojan Horse to alter our way of life in ways far beyond what appears to be on the surface. This kind of talk is just plain old scary.
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
- Arabian Proverb
The left and the MSM thrive o
April 24, 2007 - 15:21 ET by winston smithThe left and the MSM thrive on weasel words and phrases designed to prohibit speech they cannot and will not tolerate. Words and phrases like "politically correct", "fairness doctrine" and "responsible speech" are actually methods of limiting certain types of speech while maintaining the appearance of free speech advocacy. Anti-global warming speech is targeted by the media experts and now a convenient excuse has been created to shut off all debate deemed detrimental to the cause of global warming. To listen to the way the news is reported, the average Joe or Jane would never even know that there are thousands of reputable scientists from around the world who have been at odds with global warming theories for over a decade and vehemently reject the claims made in the IPCC report. And I'm certain that the media want it just that way.
In a way, Gore was nearly correct when he said "....the debate is over". The truth is that the MSM will simply not allow debate to take place, let alone report the truth.
I read that the poor little p
April 24, 2007 - 11:49 ET by bigtimerI read that the poor little perky one's problems are enemies inside CBS...couldn't be her....
The whole thing is hysterical to me....fight amongst yourselves little leftist ones.
Shister is supposedly one of her biggest besides Sheiffer...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268020,00.html
Rude thoughtless perky pig Couric
April 24, 2007 - 12:09 ET by Cool ArrowA vast right-wing conspiracy inside CBS? The plot thickens.
Like gelded hyenas
April 24, 2007 - 12:09 ET by heldmywIt is the absolute earnestness of liberals that I have the hardest time grasping.
Their Gaia-given, self-righteousness and intolerance is supremely intolerant, ignorant and insensitive. How they can adopt the label "progressives" I don't know. Unless they all buy from that insurance company.
They grasp their beliefs as unalloyed truth and are shocked, shocked to the bone that anyone could believe otherwise! It's beyond heresy... it's much worse! Repent you ignorant rednecks! We KNOW what's best for your sorry, uh... selves.
Many thoughts, beliefs, and truths I hold dear. Some are even sacred to me, but that's a personal thing that I wouldn't inflict on anyone. I even think I can at least listen to another viewpoint, even if it means, at the end, I'm backing away slowly and trying not to make eye contact.
Liberals? They'd be rounding up the stakes and kindling while screeching like gelded hyenas.
CBS slipped
April 24, 2007 - 12:19 ET by Gary HallCBS simply slipped. Usually, they are much more careful; like the other MSM networks, cable news channels, print medium, etc., this tiny bit of free speech and free expression of non-liberal conforming views just does not accidently slip out. I'm confident they won't let it occur again.
I think the father of the stu
April 24, 2007 - 12:20 ET by Michael ChapmanI think the father of the student killed at Columbine was correct. We live in a culture and society that say it's okay for mothers to kill their babies by abortion, and then we wonder why kids kill kids. We wonder why there is so little regard for human life. Duh. If the State says it is okay to kill babies, with full legal protection, then anything goes. Anything is permissible. Except, of course, those things that cross the politically correct line, which clearly encircles the newsroom at CBS. The politically correct group-think at CBS, and many other newsrooms, is clearly Stalinist. You can only say or report those things that follow the Party Line. That's why the CBS "correspondent" made the Stalinist claim about "free speech " vs. "responsible speech." CBS decides what is "responsible" and anything or anyone outside that PC-circle of "responsible" is exorcised, not interviewed, not given the opportunity to express their view. PCBS: the Politically Correct Broadcasting System.
"We wonder why there i
April 24, 2007 - 18:19 ET by Night Watchman"We wonder why there is so little regard for human life."
Michael,
Could it be the missiles rolling out of Lockheed Martin, pulled by flat bed
trucks down Main St Littleton, past Columbine High School?
"If CBS’s cadre of cor
April 24, 2007 - 12:30 ET by buddyc"If CBS’s cadre of correspondents is mad because a few seconds of airtime was given over to a social conservative point of view, then the problems at CBS News go so deep that it may not matter who sits in the anchor chair"
I have believed that for over 20 years. More people need to believe it and seriously tune CBS off their TV's. It is easy. Just use your remote, go to set up channels and do a skip on all CBS channels and their sister channels.
You can still get the liberal point of view. It comes through every single form of media, so you are not tunning out all contrary views. CBS is the head of the serpent. Cut off the head of this serpent and the message will be sent.
CBS news is toilet water. I d
April 24, 2007 - 12:50 ET by rbosqueCBS news is toilet water. I don't even want to see what's in there.
The MSM are all on a crusade
April 24, 2007 - 13:16 ET by c5thenThey have a socialist ideology and report the "news" with that as the first criteria. They either report only certain things and don't report others, or spin the reporting a certain way so as to advance their ideology and indoctrinate their readers/watchers. They are no better than Pravda of the old Soviet Union. Nothing bad ever happened in the USSR (according to Pravda). If something bad happened it just wasn't reported. Anything that was reported was always good fo the USSR.
It didn't stop bad things from happening, and it didn't prevent the ramifications of those bad things from affecting the whole country and it's people. It's just that only a very small select group actually knew what was going on. As a result, the vast majority of the people couldn't make accurate decisions because they didn't have important information.
This culture is constantly bombarded with the abortion creed, with the evolution /natural selection creed and the all-points-of-view-are-equal creed. The result is that their are no moral values that are based upon absolute right and wrong, only relative good and bad based upon a certain point of view.
It's all about not getting caught instead of doing the right thing. It's all about being seen as some one to fear instead of earning respect. It's all about what makes you fell good at the moment, instead of what is the best course of action in the long term.
You're wrong on one point, c5
April 24, 2007 - 13:34 ET by Scout FinchYou're wrong on one point, c5then. They have no "all-points-of-view-are-correct" creed. Only "responsible" and "correct" points of view, please. And they are the final arbitors and experts of what is responsible and correct.
"Hmmm, let's see........
April 24, 2007 - 13:25 ET by Scout Finch"Hmmm, let's see.........." (Says Scout, thumbing through her handy copy of the Constitution)
Nope. Not there. I can't find anything about "responsible speech" in the Constitution. It must be CBS' own filter to keep "God" out of their programming content, and any words that shed a negative light on abortion. What worries CBS is that this dad wasn't all 'fire and brimstone' either. They usually diminish those people as the 'lunatic fringe'. There is no one more intolerant of speech than a liberal.
My hats off to the editor a
April 24, 2007 - 13:47 ET by radiofitz34My hats off to the editor at CBS that let the comment slip through. That would make it 1/2 of 1% of the time any conservative views were aired CBS news.
I remember a couple months ago when my sister told me that Chris Waddell (my nephew) would be a on a piece that night. I watched and tivo'd it. His piece didn't make it on the program. Therefore I was forced to watch the entire CBS evening news. It was quite painful. I did not realise it would be THAT bad. Consequently, I was angry for a couple of hours after that.
You're being generous. 1/2
April 24, 2007 - 15:37 ET by kathleenirishYou're being generous. 1/2 of 1%. Not on a good day,even. I think "Pravda" was probably more conservative than our MSM at this point. Their mission, and all, you know.
" 'Fred's Slacks' is a winner!!"
CBS News
April 24, 2007 - 15:05 ET by pocomocoCBS News, once called the “Tiffany Network” because it was considered the ‘crown jewel’ of network news, has become nothing more than a ‘pawn shop’ where liberal agendas are sold to the public by reporters who are like carnival barkers at a freak show shouting, “Come on in and we’ll tell you what we want you to know”.
Today, at CBS News, free speech is an ‘inconvenient truth’ perpetrated, they say, by members of the ‘Vast Right-wing Conspiracy’. As such, they maintain that CBS News must remain the wellspring of pure liberal thought so it can be foisted on a ‘stupid’ public each evening.
There can be no doubt that CBS News now employs a staff of small-minded people with even smaller expectations of a news division that was once considered the hallmark of network news. How sad!
Having worked in various news
April 24, 2007 - 15:20 ET by NoMoreClintonsHaving worked in various newsrooms for about 10 years I can tell you that people who work in TV news do not live in the real world. This is similar to the Ivory Tower syndrome of college professors. Trust me, this is true and we're seeing a classic example of it here.
"Responsible Speech"
April 24, 2007 - 15:39 ET by kathleenirish"Responsible Speech"= good censorship
"Free Speech"= non-existent in MSM
" 'Fred's Slacks' is a winner!!"
"There's a differenc
April 24, 2007 - 15:59 ET by jmad627"There's a difference between free speech and responsible speech," an embarrassed correspondent says.
I am very curious who defines this difference, and what the definition is. I read somewhere, that the staff of "Today" used to run and hide when they heard Katie Communist, was walking, they knew the sound of her shoes, or talking, coming down the hall. Apparently she has an abrasive off camera personality.
Their shock and dismay at an
April 24, 2007 - 17:06 ET by mattmTheir shock and dismay at an opposing opinion they hold (wait...aren't they supposed to be objective journalists? Ahem - cough - ahem)...their dismay reveals them to be the guardians of untruth.
Wow ...
April 24, 2007 - 20:26 ET by Dave PierreGreat post, Rich. "CBS Evening News Exposed"!
“‘There's a difference
April 24, 2007 - 20:26 ET by zeocon“‘There's a difference between free speech and responsible speech,’ an embarrassed correspondent says...”
You MSM bastards don't know the meaning of the word responsible.
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I read this story, and I wr
April 25, 2007 - 02:07 ET by BritcomI read this story, and I wrote the following comment on the Philly site:
The real story here is that what is WRONG with CBS is the fact that there was
an "uproar" in the newroom rather than a group consoling in response to the
Columbine father's comments on the teaching of evolution, and abortion. Just by
virtue of holding an assumed conservative viewpoint, the father went from an
object of pity, to a target of ridcule and anger by the knee-jerk liberals who
prowel the CBS news cave. Rather than learn from the father's insight, they
rejected him and his insight out of hand, and we all suffer for that. That right
there illustrates the media's cherry-picking news policy. Report the PC/feminist
agenda and reject the traditionalists and conservatives where they are found.
Network News is not news anymore, it is leftist political indoctrination
therapy, and as such should be shut down and its editors deported to Communist
Cuba or Venezuela. No I am not kidding.