September 27, 2004

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I missed this Killian memo timeline put together by USA Today reporter Mark Memmott. I want to point out the items involving USA Today.

Wednesday, Sept. 8

...

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."

...

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.

...

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.

...

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.

...

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.

...

Thursday, Sept. 16

...

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.

Let's get into the substance of how USA Today put together their Killian memo story.

One hour and fifteen minutes after the 60 Minutes II story aired, Dave Moniz received copies of the forged memos from Bill Burkett. Presumably this was in Bozeman, Montana.

USAT editors admit that they ran with the story based on the CBS News airing and a woman who knew about National Guard practices and files. No document expert was consulted. Two days later and only after webloggers inspire some MSM to question the memos' authenticity does USAT "assign reporters to expand the story and investigate the memos' authenticity."

On 09.12.04 (three days after running the initial story), USAT shows the memos to document experts. Two say they're fakes while other experts say 1970s technology could produce such documents. They publish this story the next day.

Three days later on 09.15.04, reporters Dave Moniz and Kevin Johnson begin five days of interviews with Bill Burkett. The story is published on 09.21.04.

Now, let's see how many of my questions have been answered:

• "Will they acknowledge Bill Burkett as the source of the memos?"
  Yes they have and have gotten him to claim Lucy Ramirez is the source of the memos.
  
• "Why did they run the memo story the day after the 60 Minutes II airing?"
  They used the airing as well as the White House's distribution of the memos as an alternative to verifying their authenticity.
  
• "Was their any discussion between Moniz and Drinkard and CBS News staff or between USA Today and CBS News regarding the story?"
  There is no indication the two news organizations coordinated their stories.
  
• "Why didn't they have experts authenticate the memos before running with the story?"
  CBS News used the memos first and the White House never claimed they were fake. Because of this USAT Editor Ken Paulson does believe the paper erred.
  
• "Did USA Today use the 60 Minutes II airing as an excuse to not question the memos or their source?"
  Clearly, the show's airing eased editors' misgivings. See above.
  
• "What deals (if any) were made with Burkett in exchange for the memos?"
  No deals appear to have been made. This looks like part of a long-time relationship between Burkett and USAT reporters.
  
• "Was the Kerry Edwards campaign contacted with regards to the story?"
  There is no indication.
  
• "When will the reporters and the paper admit to being duped?"
  They only continue to investigate.
  
• "Will their be an internal investigation as to how and why the paper was duped?"
  No internal investigation has been made public.
  

The paper should be praised for not allowing Dave Moniz or Jim Drinkard to continue covering this story. A new reporter not only prevents any conflict of interest but allows for an outside perspective.

Unfortunately for the paper, the comments of Ken Paulson show the paper admits to no wrong. He uses CBS News and the White House as excuses for not authenticating the Killian memos.

Finally let me toot my horn. Editor & Publisher finally noticed USAT's role in this story on 09.14. They called it "widely overlooked." If they were reading TAM they would have realized the paper's role on 09.13. Sure it's one little day, but TAM scooped "America's Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry."

"Scoops and Skepticism: How the Story Unfolded"