Editing Dan Rather (section)

=== Killian documents ===
{{Main|Killian documents controversy}}
On September 8, 2004, Rather reported on ''[[60 Minutes II|60 Minutes Wednesday]]'' that a series of memos critical of President George W. Bush's [[Texas Air National Guard]] service record had been discovered in the personal files of Lt. Bush's former commanding officer, Lt. Col. [[Jerry B. Killian]].<ref>{{cite news |title=New Questions On Bush Guard Duty |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-questions-on-bush-guard-duty-08-09-2004/ |access-date=October 11, 2007 |work=CBS News |date=September 8, 2004}}</ref> Once copies of the documents were made available on the Internet, their authenticity was quickly called into question. Much of this was based on the fact that the documents were proportionally printed and displayed using other modern typographic conventions usually unavailable on military typewriters of the 1970s. The font used on the documents has characteristics that exactly or almost exactly match standard font features of [[Microsoft Word]]. This led to claims that the memos were forgeries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/640pgolk.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040920001008/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/640pgolk.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 20, 2004 |title=What Blogs Have Wrought |publisher=Weeklystandard.com |date=September 27, 2004 |access-date=June 4, 2012}}</ref> The accusations then spread over the following days into mainstream media outlets, including ''[[The Washington Post]]'',<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12809-2004Sep10.html Rather Defends CBS Over Memos on Bush] ''The Washington Post'' September 10, 2004.</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'',<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/politics/campaign/15guard.html Memos on Bush Are Fake but Accurate, Typist Says] ''The New York Times''</ref> and ''[[The Chicago Sun-Times]]''.<ref>[http://www.suntimes.com/output/steyn/cst-edt-steyn12.html "CBS falls for Kerry campaign's fake memo"], ''Chicago Sun-Times'', September 12, 2004 (requires archive access).</ref>

Rather and CBS initially defended the story, insisting that the documents had been authenticated by experts.<ref>{{cite web|last=Memmott |first=Mark |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-12-cbs-media_x.htm |title=– Amid criticism, CBS stands by its reports |work=USA Today |date=September 13, 2004 |access-date=June 4, 2012}}</ref> CBS was contradicted by some of the experts it originally cited,<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18982-2004Sep13.html Expert Cited by CBS Says He Didn't Authenticate Papers] ''The Washington Post'', September 14, 2004.</ref> and later reported that its source for the documents—former Texas Army National Guard officer Lt. Col. [[Bill Burkett]]—had misled the network about how he had obtained them.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rather-on-the-document-errors/ |work=CBS News |title=Rather On The Document Errors |date=September 20, 2004}}</ref>

On September 20, 2004, CBS retracted the story. Rather stated, "If I knew then what I know now, I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question."<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dan-rather-statement-on-memos/ Dan Rather Statement On Memos], ''[[CBS]]'', September 20, 2004.</ref> The controversy has been referred to by some as "Memogate" and "Rathergate".<ref>Jack Shafer, [http://slate.com/id/2116498/ "Bloggers Freer Than Reporters?"] ''Slate'', April 8, 2005.</ref>

Following an investigation commissioned by CBS,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6807825 |title=CBS ousts 4 over Bush Guard story |work=NBC News |date=January 10, 2005 |access-date=June 4, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=0040 |title=Thornburgh report leaves some questions unanswered |publisher=Niemanwatchdog.org |access-date=June 4, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/complete_report/appendix_4.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050112042715/http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/complete_report/appendix_4.pdf |archive-date=2005-01-12 |url-status=live |work=CBS News |title=Appendix 4: Panel Observations Peter Tytell's Analysis of Typestyle Issues}}</ref> CBS fired story producer [[Mary Mapes]], and asked three other producers connected with the story to resign. Many believe Rather's retirement was hastened by this incident.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7313-2004Nov23.html Dan Rather to Step Down at CBS, Anchor's Decision Comes Amid Probe of Flawed Bush Report] ''The Washington Post'' November 23, 2004.</ref> On September 20, 2007, Rather was interviewed on ''[[Larry King Live]]'' commenting, "Nobody has proved that they were fraudulent, much less a forgery. ... The truth of this story stands up to this day."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/21/rather.lkl/index.html?iref=newssearch |title=Rather: I was forced to step down |publisher=Cnn.com |date=September 21, 2007 |access-date=June 4, 2012}}</ref>