CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager orders the '60 Minutes' correspondent and her producer to take a leave of absence of an undetermined length for reporting the questionable story.
- November 27, 2013
AceShowbiz -
Lara Logan is now facing the repercussions of her mistake in "60 Minutes" Benghazi report. After apologizing for the error, she and the segment's producer Max McClellan are forced to take a leave of absence.
According to an internal memo obtained by USA Today, Logan has agreed to follow the order from CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager. It's not mentioned how long the CBS News correspondent and her producer will be away from their job.
"There is a lot to learn from this mistake for the entire organization," Fager says in a letter to CBS employees, calling the mistake "regrettable." He adds, "As executive producer, I am responsible for what gets on the air. I pride myself in catching almost everything, but this deception got through, and it shouldn't have."
CBS News spokeswoman Sonya McNair confirms, "The 60 Minutes journalistic review is concluded, and we are implementing ongoing changes based on its results," but doesn't specify what those changes are.
Logan came under fire after reporting controversial report about the Benghazi attack which relied heavily on the story by Dylan Davies, a British security contractor who worked for Blue Mountain. His credibility had been undermined as he told different different versions of the events.
According to The Associated Press, in the review, CBS News executive Al Ortiz thinks the fact that Davies lied to his employer about the real account of what happened during the attack "should have been a red flag in the editorial vetting process."
Ortiz also points out Logan's assertion that Al Qaeda was directly involved in the attack. He says, "While Logan had multiple sources and good reasons to have confidence in them, her assertions that Al Qaeda carried out the attack and controlled the hospital were not adequately attributed in her report."
