CBSNews.com acknowledges mistake in falsely claiming "nuclear option" is a Democratic term

Network's website credits Media Matters for America for pointing out error

November 3, 2005 (Washington, DC) - Media Matters for America praised CBSNews.com for acknowledging its error in attributing the term "nuclear option" - originally coined by Republican Senator Trent Lott - to Democrats. The CBSNews.com article in question was the latest in a long line of media reports that have falsely indicated that "nuclear option" is term Democrats created to describe a threatened Republican change to Senate rules to would prohibit filibusters of judicial nominees. In fact, as Media Matters has repeatedly pointed out, Republicans were the first to describe their plans as the "nuclear option."

In a November 2nd post entitled "'Nuclear' Use Not An Option," Vaughn Ververs, a writer for CBSNews.com's blog 'Public Eye,' wrote that Media Matters first pointed out the mistake, and that he brought it to the attention of Mike Sims, director of news and operations for CBSNews.com, who agreed that CBS had made a mistake. The CBSNews.com article has now been corrected.

"We're very pleased that CBSNews.com has acknowledged and corrected this mistake and credited Media Matters for pointing it out," said David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters for America. "It's important to be clear that the term 'nuclear option' is a Republican coined term for changing Senate rules to prohibit filibusters of judicial nominations. But CBS wasn't alone in making this mistake. We hope other news organizations will follow its lead in correcting it."

The Media Matters item that prompted the correction can be found here: http://mediamatters.org/items/200511010013

 

The Vaughn Ververs post on CBSNews.com can be found here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/30/publiceye/main805566.shtml

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