CBS Again Under Fire for Questionable Reporting
By Bobby Eberle
Talon News
September 30, 2004
CBS News is again under fire for a story which aired Tuesday evening by CBS News Correspondent Richard Schlesinger purporting to compare the views of President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry on the possibility of reinstituting the military draft.
"It's no secret, the all-volunteer U.S. military, especially the Army, Marines, and many Reserve units, are stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan," CBS News anchor Dan Rather said leading into the segment. "So what about bringing back the draft? A lot of Americans are worried about that. Where do the presidential candidates stand?"
The story was presented as part of a continuing series on the election and featured a Philadelphia woman named Beverly Cocco who was characterized by Schlesinger as someone who "has spent most of her life protecting children in Philadelphia" and as "a Republican, but also a single-issue voter."
"I go to bed every night, and I pray, and I actually get sick to my stomach," the story quoted Cocco as saying. "I'm very worried; I'm scared. I'm absolutely scared; I'm petrified."
Cocco's fears center around her two draft-age sons and her stated fear that the Bush administration is about to reinstitute a military draft.
The Schlesinger story (web site) goes on to cite Internet e-mails that have been circulating for the last month or so, saying, "There's an undercurrent of anxiety; mass e-mails are circulating among parents worried their kids could be called up."
In an article posted September 23, 2004 on their Urban Legends Reference page, Snopes.com debunks the e-mails by reporting on draft bills introduced to Congress which have since languished in committee.
"However, both these bills were introduced not by legislators genuinely seeking to reinstate the draft, but by Democrats seeking to make an anti-war statement," Snopes.com reports.
Senate Bill S.89 was introduced in January 2003 by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC) and had no Republican co-sponsors. A companion bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in January 2003. It was sponsored by Democrats Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Jim McDermott (D-WA), John Lewis (D-GA), Pete Stark (D-CA), and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI).
Neither bill was passed out of committee, and these Democratic bills were not mentioned by either Schlesinger or Rather.
"You¹d think that in the midst of the terrible publicity he is getting for working closely with a partisan Democrat -- bent on bringing down President Bush -- that Dan Rather would have the good sense to lay off the liberal bias for a while, especially since just three weeks ago, the 72-year-old CBSer denounced the Internet as 'filled with rumors,'" said RatherGate.com owner Mike Krempasky.
Paul Rodriguez, the managing editor of Insight Magazine, said in an online column, "Frankly, I'm beginning to wonder if CBS News is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee -- or at least a satellite office for John Kerry's campaign committee."
Rodriguez added that he now wonders whether other CBS stories aired over the years "contained flaws, errors, bad judgment and perhaps even purposeful deceit."
"As a consumer of news I should never harbor such thoughts," Rodriguez said. "But now I do ... because of CBS."
The military draft came to an end in 1973 following the Vietnam War. Although young men are still required to register with the Selective Service, reinstituting the draft would require congressional approval. It is estimated that it would take up to two years to complete the necessary congressional and military steps for a reinstituted draft to actually produce soldiers.
CBS also failed to mention the background of the "worried mother," Beverly Cocco in the on-air report. Although labeled simply as a "Philadelphia voter" by Schlesinger, Cocco is a political activist involved with the Philadelphia Lancaster/Bucks County affiliate of "Parents Against the Draft" (web site). This information was added to the online version of the report.
Neither President Bush or John Kerry has stated they would reinstitute a military draft according to CBS.
Bush was quoted by CBS as saying, "The war on terror will continue. It's going to take a while and no, we don't need a draft."
CBS quoted Kerry as saying, "I will give us a foreign policy that absolutely makes it unnecessary to have a draft for this country."
Despite the fact that both presidential candidates are on record opposing a draft and no evidence exists that a draft is likely, CBS pursued a draft story based on urban legends and the opinion of a staunch anti-draft activist. At the same time, CBS withheld Cocco's background while she helped raise the issue of a possible Bush draft.
When asked if she would vote for a Democrat, Cocco responded, "Absolutely."
"I would vote for Howdy Doody if I thought it would keep my boys home and safe," Cocco added.
Schlesinger concluded with a warning: "She's a Bush supporter today, but if she doesn't like what she hears between now and November, Beverly could easily cross over."
