CNN reporters had blinders on, probers report

Reporters for CNN worked hard and honestly but brushed aside inconvenient facts in putting together a story saying U.S. commandos used nerve gas during the Vietnam War, a network-ordered probe found.

The reporters instead read too much into what their sources told them in producing the story, according to the investigation conducted by the First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams.The probe led to Thursday's retraction of the broadcast story and a companion article in Time magazine.

The story asserted that the U.S. military used sarin gas to kill American defectors in 1970 during a secret mission in Laos called Operation Tailwind.

"The CNN journalists involved in this project believed in every word they wrote," Abrams' report said. But it said the journalists apparently were so convinced of the truth of the story that they ignored or minimized information that conflicted with their conclusions.

The investigator's 54-page report called it a case of "journalistic overkill," and concluded: "The CNN broadcast was not fair."

The CNN journalists who worked on the story included correspondent Peter Arnett and producers April Oliver, Jack Smith and Pamela Hill. Hill resigned Thursday. Oliver, who did most of the reporting, was fired, as was Smith. Arnett was reprimanded.

On "Talk Back Live," what the network got was polite understanding, at least from some.

"I think they're trying to do the right thing," said Teresa Reid of Orangeburg, S.C., a member of Thursday's audience. "They're trying to clean up the mess they have made."

Because of "serious faults" in reporting, the Atlanta-based network on Thursday retracted its story charging that the U.S. military used the deadly gas sarin during a Vietnam-era mission.

"Talk Back Live" moderator Bobbie Battista labeled the day - off the air - a "journalistic nightmare." But some credited the network with moving quickly to fix its errors and air its dirty laundry on live television.

"That shows us that they're making an effort to do right," said Gwen Johnson of Aiken, S.C., another audience member and teacher who was leading a field trip to Atlanta.

"CNN does too much good to be condemned for something like this," added Bruce Barnett of Amherst, N.H.

Still, experts said CNN faced the task of building credibility.