Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power

It was the kind of story any news producer would love to report, nail down and get on the air. And that's just what Mary Mapes and her team did in September, 2004, when they aired their report on President George W. Bush's dereliction of his National Guard duty for CBS News. The firestorm that followed trashed Mapes' career, caused Dan Rather to resign from his anchor chair a year early, and led to an unprecedented "internal inquiry" into the story. This book is Mapes' account of the often-surreal, always-harrowing fallout she experienced for raising questions about a powerful sitting president. It answers questions about the solidity of the documents at the heart of the National Guard story as well as where they came from. This is an account of how the public's right to know--or even to ask questions--is being attacked by an alliance of politicians, news organizations, bloggers and corporate America.--From publisher description.… (more)