POLLING JURY AFTER LIBEL SUIT

After Gen. William C. Westmoreland dropped his $120- million libel suit against CBS, the “CBS Morning News,” like other news organizations, sought an unofficial verdict from jurors who heard the case. And, like other news organizations, it found that most jurors it polled favored CBS.

But CBS also found on Wednesday that the jury foreman thought that the Vietnam documentary that caused the general’s lawsuit was somewhat one-sided against Westmoreland. CBS, said Richard Benveniste, “definitely could have done a better job.”

Although noting that fairness wasn’t an issue in the case, Benveniste nonetheless called the documentary “a little bit one-sided. They (the program’s makers) could have been fairer by showing other points of view . . . and get the public to see a more rounded show.”

David Lederman, another juror interviewed Wednesday on CBS’ program, said he thought the disputed documentary was “pretty accurate.” But juror Randy Frost, while calling the documentary “fair,” tended to agree with Benveniste that it needed more balance.

Those who made it, he said, “should have also told the good as well as the bad. They might have been reckless in some of their editing because they did hear some evidence that supported Westmoreland’s side.

“And in their editing, they put in the broadcast what supported the thesis of the program itself.”

The documentary, “The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception,” said Westmoreland, commander of U.S. troops in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968, deliberately under-estimated enemy strength in 1967 to show progress in the war. Westmoreland denied this.

After 18 weeks of trial testimony in New York, and more than two years of costly pre-trial legal maneuvering and preparation, the suit was dropped Sunday after an agreement between CBS and the general.

In the agreement, CBS said it never believed that Westmoreland “was unpatriotic or disloyal in performing his duties as he saw them.” He said he considered that an “apology” he’d sought. CBS denied that it had made any apology. But both sides agreed that the long court battle was over.

The comments of Benveniste and other jurors Wednesday came in an unusual 12-minute mass interview by anchorman Bill Kurtis of all but two of the 10 jurors polled by “The CBS Morning News.” Nine were part of the 12-member jury that would have returned a verdict had not Westmoreland dropped his lawsuit only days before it would have gone to the jury.

Cheryl Raymond, an alternate juror who was included in the CBS poll and who appeared on Wednesday’s program, wouldn’t have participated in the trial verdict. The trial originally had six alternate jurors, but one dropped out because of illness in her family.

The “Morning News” said that of the nine regular jurors and one alternate it polled, seven thought the disputed documentary was “true” and three were “undecided.” Nine said they thought CBS believed the documentary was true, and one was undecided.

(Jon Katz, executive producer of the “CBS Morning News,” said that 11 regular jurors were to appear on the show, but two dropped out. The 12th refused to participate. Katz said he wasn’t sure, but thought the last was Michael Sussman.

(In a Tuesday interview with reporters from The Times in New York, Sussman said he had been leaning towards a verdict in Westmoreland’s favor because the documentary hadn’t included enough interviews that would have supported the general’s side of the story.

(“It was reckless disregard for the truth,” Sussman said.).

Myron Gold, a regular juror interviewed by Kurtis, said he hadn’t made up his mind during the trial, mainly because the jury hadn’t gotten to see the documentary from start to finish without interruptions.

He said he thought that viewers understand that because of time limitations, broadcast journalists can only show a small amount of the footage they shoot for a documentary.

However, he added, “what was surprising to us, and I guess will be a source of controversy, is what’s taken out. It’s amazing what can be done with a word, or a sentence, or a phrase that’s dropped.”

What’s important, Gold said, speaking of both print and electronic journalism, is that in “quoting people,” reporters “have got to maintain a tremendous sense of integrity and loyalty to the (journalistic) profession.”

None of the trial’s jurors had served in Vietnam or lost a friend or relative in the war there. Only one, alternate Harold Boro, had ever been in combat. He said he had flown 19 missions as a bomber gunner in World War II in Italy.