Josh Howard is NOT suing CBS – not yet.

A friend of mine who works there emailed me in some frustration, wondering, “why are all the bloggers saying that Josh is bringing suit against CBS? It’s not true – it’s not accurate. He may be mulling it, but he hasn’t done anything more than procure an attorney. He is not (yet) suing CBS. I thought you bloggers were all self-correcting? What was that about glass houses?”

Hmmmm….

First off, don’t be angry with my pal – he’s a good guy who reads and enjoys many blogs, and he is no mouthpiece for the profession; he and many of his msm friends are troubled by much of what goes on in their industry. That said, it’s still his profession and his bread and butter and he, like most members of the msm, is feeling a bit antsy about the burgeoning power of the blogs, and their impact on major news organizations.

I’ve told him repeatedly that if the msm would simply report the news, unslanted, and ask questions – when warranted – of their sacred cows (such as those they refused to ask of Eason Jordan) that the bloggers would be all too glad to see it. Most sensible and thoughtful bloggers are not about “taking down the press.” They merely want things to be accurate and fair.

Which is why, in re-reading the Joe Hagan story linked…well, everywhere throughout the blogosphere, I had to admit that…(sigh)…he’s right. Josh Howard has not yet brought suit against CBS. He has taken on representation and told CBS what they expect to do to repair what he believes is damage to his reputation (and, yeah, it probably has damaged his reputation – and the reps of his two co-workers, Betsy West and Mary Murphey – to be singled out when clearly there were more than three players in this story).

I took a quick look around at the blogs and various sources and was able to confirm for myself that yes – some blogs were either reporting that Howard was suing CBS, or they’d let that error slip into there headers. May I say, in blogger-defense though, that the majority of bloggers, particularly the big fellers like Captain Ed and Powerline and TKS DID get it right, and have reflected the Hagan story accurately. So, bloggers…check your headers and the bodies of your posts, and make sure you’re not writing Howard’s “possible, future” lawsuit as a done deal!

We ARE self-correcting, right? ;-) Yes. Yes, we are.