"We look at the journalistic issues," Ververs, a onetime aide to columnist and presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan, told me in a phone interview Friday, when I asked why the blog wasn't covering Rooney's anti-Couric comments. "We don't do a lot of sort of speculation and that kind of stuff."
But that's not speculation, I said. Rooney said those things in a radio interview.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday April 28, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 39 words Type of Material: Correction
Dan Rather: The Channel Island column in Monday's Calendar cited an argument that CBS newsman Dan Rather got into with a GOP president, referring to George H.W. Bush. That discussion took place in 1988, when Bush was vice president.
"But it's a personnel issue," Ververs replied. "We just generally don't cover those kinds of issues. We look at the journalistic issues involving CBS News."
Isn't it a journalistic issue if the network's best-known commentator suggests the new anchor lacks the confidence and support of the newsroom staff?
Ververs' reply: "Why?"
I wanted to ask Rooney himself for elaboration, but was informed by a spokeswoman that neither he nor CBS News President Sean McManus would be available for comment.
Of course, CBS hype to the contrary, Public Eye is about as transparent as a sandbag. It better resembles an arm of the network's public relations department than a truth-telling proxy for millions of viewers. If it's supposed to represent the lessons Moonves & Co. learned from the Rather debacle, Couric may end up sharing more with her predecessor than either her fans or detractors currently imagine.
