Sunday Reflection: David Freddoso: Don't just laugh at Dan Rather -- learn from him

In 2004, CBS News anchor Dan Rather was given a series of memos purporting to show how George W. Bush had avoided service in Vietnam during the early 1970s. Rather wanted so badly for the document to be real that he put it on the air without much thought. He even sexed up his sourcing a bit, claiming (falsely) that the documents had been authenticated by experts.

It took nearly two weeks for the fake documents to be exposed and for this highly damaging story about George W. Bush to be disproven. For most of that period, CBS News and Rather stridently defended their fake story, bringing further discredit upon the entire organization.