Yes, confirms TVNewser, CBS's eye on itself, the Public Eye ombudsblog, is sadly no longer with us (h/t Eat the Press):
TVNewser has learned the CBS News blog PublicEye, once described as a "de facto ombudsman" of CBS News, has ceased operations. CBS Interactive cut several staff members last month, including Matthew Felling who was editor of the site.
A spokesperson for CBS Interactive tells TVNewser, "We weren't able to find a sustainable business model for Public Eye. We are exploring ways to maintain a similar spirit of public discourse by engaging the CBSNews.com audience and building a community around multiple voices."
Launched July 12, 2005, PublicEye stated its "fundamental mission" was "to bring transparency to the editorial operations of CBS News."
The return to opacity is unfortunate just as election '08 heats up. After all, it was former anchor Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes and their obsessive adherence to discredited phony National Guard memos in 2004 that set the wheels in motion to provide CBS News consumers an advocate and watchdog in the form of PublicEye.
That's not to say, however, that Public Eye has exactly lived up to its defined mission. A review of NewsBusters archives yields evidence of that:
- CBS Blogger: Stop Whining About Bias, Check Out the Other Side First
- CBS Blogger: Praises MSM for Vitter Coverage Yet Revels in Lefty Blogs Bashing the Senator
- CBS 'Public Eye' Blog: Keith Olbermann 'Overstates'?
- CBS Blogger Fails (Again) to Push CBS Execs on Fired Producer's Name
- CBS Blogger Doesn't Press Producers Over Tenet/Perle Exchange That Never Happened
- CBS Blogger: We Need More Gun Control Stories
- CBS Plagiarist Producer Was Slated to Teach Online Writing Course
Public Eye is survived by Katie Couric's "Couric & Co." In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Media Research Center CBS Credibility Memorial Fund.
