CBS Apologizes To Blogger

By Jason Lee Miller - Thu, 09/20/2007 - 11:51

A senior executive at CBS News Corporation has issued an apology to a viewer who complained via email about anchor Katie Couric's reporting from Iraq and was insulted in CBS's reply.

CBS Apologizes To Viewer

The emailed reply, which came from Evening@cbsnews.com, implied Errol Siegel of Austin, Texas, who's in the email security business, was unintelligent and the author of it devalued information found on blogs.

Initially, CBS would not confirm that the email came from within CBS, but IP tracking revealed that it had come from inside CBS's New York headquarters.

After the news broke, Mr. Siegel pursued CBS further, seeking public confirmation of the email, an apology, and clarification of CBS's position on blogs and those that read and contribute to them.

Mr. Siegel says Linda Mason, Senior Vice President of Special Projects for CBS News Corporation, issued him this statement:

"Thank you for contacting us directly about the confusion over the source of an email you were sent in response to your thoughts on the CBS EVENING NEWS in the Mid-East. On behalf of CBS News, I want to confirm to you that the email reply you received did come from someone at CBS. The identity of that person is being investigated and the matter is being taken very seriously.

"Let me also note that CBS News has its own blog, Public Eye, where we encourage viewer input. We also read responses on Evening.CBSNews.com. We welcome a dialogue with the public and we are very sorry you received the response you did, but we thank you for calling it to our attention so we can correct the situation."

(Editor's Note: WPN writer Mike Sachoff confirmed Ms. Mason's statement to Mr. Siegel after this reporter's request for comment was rebuffed by a CBS mailserver. An automated response to the first request, from this reporter's personal email address, indicated the address has been placed into a blacklist on that mailserver.)

News Tags: CBS, blogger, CBS News, Errol Siegel, News, Linda Mason

About the author:
Jason Lee Miller is a WebProNews editor and writer covering business and technology.

7 Comments

By Gary W Herlocker (WPN reader) - Sat, 09/27/2008 - 19:22

David Letterman's Unbridled Comments on McCain

I am wondering if your network has any control over the behavior of David Letterman concerning his insulting and meanspirited comments concerning John McCain. In my opinion, Letterman's childish and smart-ass remarks have gone far beyond fare and reasonable political comment. I can tell you one thing for sure, your network is not gaining favor among a large number of veterans and other people that believe we should treat each other in a civil and respectful manner and peticularly someone that many believe is a national hero. Disagreeing politically is one thing, smearing someone's character on national TV is another. Shame on you CBS. If I was running CBS, we would be apologizing to our watchers for Letterman's unrestrained insults.

By Linn (WPN reader) - Sat, 09/29/2007 - 01:04

rats a suckin'

I waited with delight for the season opener of Numb3rs. I was so disappointed with the appearance of the stars....the comment came back out of the past from my sainted mother-in-law....looks like the rats have been suckin' on their face & hair...don't think I can watch. Not a good example.

By AL (WPN reader) - Thu, 09/20/2007 - 18:49

CBS News Corporation has issued an apology

Who care's, stop sending me your useless e-mails with useless information. Who cares if some idiot with alot of time on his hands complains and get's offended. I bet Jason is going to be offeneded by my comments but GET A LIFE JASON.

By dream (WPN reader) - Mon, 09/24/2007 - 02:55

It's called "opt-out"...

By C de Beer (WPN reader) - Fri, 09/21/2007 - 02:49

If you don't like it, unsubscribe

WebProNews is about web related news and although this article touched the unrelated topic of the Mid-East, it also revolved around the fact that the information found on blogs have been devalued as useless information. Yes for some blogs it may be true, but it is wrong to overgeneralize, because some blogs have more accurate information than some of the big news corporations. In that light I think the article is relevant, WebProNews is about "Breaking eBusiness News" and as far as I know, Blogs fall in the category eBusiness, so if you don't like receiving the e-mails, unsubscribe, its that easy.

By Mike Frost (WPN reader) - Thu, 09/20/2007 - 17:06

CBS, what's CBS?

By Scott Adie (WPN reader) - Thu, 09/20/2007 - 14:07

CBS apologizes

CBS (read that See BS) apology spins so hard I got dizzy just reading a couple of sentences. The media BS over situations like this comes so hard and fast that you need a flak jacket and helmet just to survive it! Sometimes when we're wrong, it doesn't hurt to just say, 'Sorry I was wrong' but I guess honesty just isn't a possibility for some folks!

I wish I could send you an audio version of what CBS said in their apology. There's no way to communicate in writing such a doofus response.