60 Minutes Producers Haven't Resigned Yet
By Jim Finkle -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/18/2005 2:29:00 PM
None of the news producers CBS asked to resign in the wake of the investigation into a 60 Minutes segment on President George Bush’s military record has done so.
That's according to CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves. "They are in discussions now," Moonves told reporters during a Q&A session in Los Angeles Tuesday morning. It has been more than a week since CBS asked them to leave, though none were still on site the afternoon of Jan. 10, when the report was released. The three executives asked to resign: Senior Vice President Betsy West, who supervised CBS News prime time programs; 60 Minutes Wednesday Executive Producer Josh Howard; and Howard’s deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy. Moonves wouldn’t comment on what the network might do if the producers refuse to resign, saying the matter is now being handled by lawyers. CBS fired producer Mary Mapes outright and reassigned Senior Producer Esther Kartiganer. Anchor Dan Rather and News President Andrew Heyward kept their jobs. Moonves on Tuesday strongly defended keeping Heyward when pressed by TV critics.--John Eggerton contributed to this report.
