Scoops and skepticism: How the
story unfolded
By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY
How the National Guard documents story played out in the
news media:
Wednesday, Sept. 8
6:30 p.m. (all times Eastern):
On the CBS Evening News, anchor Dan Rather previews
that night's 60 Minutes program: "CBS News has
exclusive information, including documents ... (that)
indicate Mr. Bush may have received preferential treatment
in the Guard after not fulfilling his commitments." Rather
says the "government documents ... are from the personal
files of the late Col. Jerry Killian, Bush's squadron
commander."
Also at 6:30 p.m.: The White
House releases a transcript of a CBS interview with
communications director Dan Bartlett, part of which appeared
on the CBS Evening News Bartlett does not challenge
the documents' authenticity but says the controversy is
nothing more than "partisan politics."
6:45 p.m.: Bartlett tells USA
TODAY White House reporter Judy Keen, "President Bush met
his military obligations and rightfully received an
honorable discharge (from the Guard). While the official
records show the facts, no one can read the mind of a dead
man (Killian) who wrote memos to himself 32 years ago."
8 p.m.: 60 Minutes
airs. Midway through his 12½-minute report, Rather comes to
"a number of documents we are told were taken from Col.
Killian's personal file." He says 60 Minutes
consulted a "handwriting analyst and document expert who
believes the material is authentic."
9:15 p.m.: USA TODAY reporter
Dave Moniz meets with former National Guard lieutenant
colonel Bill Burkett, who will be revealed later as CBS'
source for the memos and whom Moniz had dealt with on
previous stories related to the National Guard. Burkett
gives Moniz copies of the same documents he gave CBS. Moniz
faxes them to USA TODAY's Washington bureau. Copies are also
faxed to USA TODAY headquarters in McLean, Va.
USA TODAY editors, as they plan the
next day's story and discuss how much weight to give the
documents, rely in part on 60 Minutes' reporting and
on Bartlett's comment about "a dead man who wrote memos to
himself." USA TODAY faxes the documents to a person familiar
with Guard personnel practices and files. She says it was
not unusual for Guard commanders to write such memos, but
could not offer additional authentication.
9:30 p.m.: The White House
e-mails copies of the four memos in the 60 Minutes
report to reporters and editors across the country. The date
"09/07/2004" and the words "CBS News" are at the top of each
page, indicating they are copies that CBS faxed to the White
House the previous day.
Through the night: Internet
"bloggers" dissect the 60 Minutes report. Many say
the memos look like they were done using a modern computer
that didn't exist in 1972 or 1973.
Thursday, Sept. 9
Daybreak: The 60 Minutes
report is front-page news in The New York Times
and The Washington Post. USA TODAY spreads its story
across nearly two-thirds of one page inside its news section
and notes that it, too, obtained the memos. There is no
discussion in the major news media about whether the memos
are authentic.
7:51 a.m.: Powerlineblog.com,
the Internet site that has received much of the credit for
calling attention to signs that the documents might be
forgeries, posts a long analysis of them.
Friday, Sept. 10
Daybreak:The New York Times
runs a story (on Page 17) headlined, "Commander's Son
Questions Memos on Bush's Service." TheWashington Post
headlines a front-page article, "Some Question Authenticity
of Papers on Bush." USA TODAY publishes a five-paragraph
story headlined, "Officer's son questions Bush memo." Rather
says on CNN: "The story is true. The story is true." That
day, USA TODAY editors assign reporters to expand the story
and investigate the memos' authenticity.
6:30 p.m.: On the CBS
Evening News, Rather gives a six-minute defense of the
60 Minutes report. He says many of the story's
critics are "partisan political operatives."
Monday, Sept. 13
Daybreak: USA TODAY, pulling
from the work of six reporters, publishes a lengthy look
into the documents' credibility. "Two retired FBI forensic
document examiners who studied the memos at USA TODAY's
request said Sunday that they probably are forgeries," the
story says. The story also notes that some other experts
said that typewriters in use in the early 1970s might have
been able to create such documents.
6:30 p.m.: On the CBS
Evening News, Rather says, "CBS used several techniques
to make sure these papers should be taken seriously."
Tuesday, Sept. 14
6:30 p.m.: On ABC's World
News Tonight, two experts whom CBS confirms it consulted
before the 60 Minutes broadcast say they warned the
network that the documents could be forgeries. CBS says
later that it also consulted other experts and that the two
who were quoted on ABC did not register strong objections.
7 p.m.: Bloggers call
attention to TheDallas Morning News Web site (www
.dallasnews.com). A story there says Killian's former
secretary, Marian Carr Knox, thinks the documents are fakes.
But she also says that they reflect what Killian thought
about Bush and that he kept files with similar notes.
Wednesday, Sept. 15
Daybreak: Knox is prominent in
newspaper stories across the country, on blogs all over the
Web and in TV and radio reports. USA TODAY, which tried but
failed to reach her the night before, reports what she's
been saying and says her son Pat Carr, whom the newspaper
reached, confirmed her comments.
6:50 p.m.: CBS News President
Andrew Heyward says on the CBS Evening News, "We
established to our satisfaction that the memos were accurate
or we would not have put them on television." But he says
CBS will "redouble" its efforts to authenticate the memos.
8 p.m.: On 60 Minutes,
Rather says, "Another voice — a credible voice — has entered
the debate." He interviews Knox. She tells him that she did
not type the memos and believes they are forgeries, but that
"the information in those is correct."
Thursday, Sept. 16
Daybreak: "Rather Concedes
Papers Are Suspect," a Washington Post front-page
headline reads.
Afternoon: Moniz and USA TODAY
reporter Kevin Johnson begin a series of interviews with
Burkett over five days. Burkett provides additional details
on the condition that the newspaper's earlier promise of
confidentiality be maintained, saying he expects CBS to
identify him in a 60 Minutes interview Sunday. No
interview is broadcast, and he waives that confidentiality
agreement with USA TODAY on Monday.
Monday
12:15 p.m.: In a statement
e-mailed to reporters, CBS reveals who provided the
documents. The network says Burkett admits he "deliberately
misled" CBS producer Mary Mapes by telling her that he got
the documents from another ex-Guardsman.
1:25 p.m.: Rather, in a
statement e-mailed to reporters, says he is sorry for "a
mistake in judgment."
6:30 p.m.: On the CBS
Evening News, Rather presents an interview with Burkett
in which the former Guard officer admits he misled CBS
researchers but also says he "insisted" that they
authenticate the memos before using them in a story. Rather
apologizes again, saying. "I'm sorry." He says CBS is
launching an investigation of its work on the story. |