CBS producer fired for Bush military story is writing her memoirs

NEW YORK (AP) _ Mary Mapes, the CBS television producer who was fired for her role in the network's discredited report on President Bush's military service, is writing her memoirs. <br/><br/>St.

Tuesday, March 22nd 2005, 11:05 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Mary Mapes, the CBS television producer who was fired for her role in the network's discredited report on President Bush's military service, is writing her memoirs.

St. Martin's Press expects a fall release for the book, tentatively titled ``The Other Side of the Story.''

St. Martin's announced Tuesday that Mapes ``will chronicle what really happened at CBS and reveal the corporate, political and ideological agendas that threaten the integrity of journalists and the news.''

Mapes was fired Jan. 10 after an independent panel found CBS rushed the story critical of Bush's military service on the air without ever proving that documents upon which it was based were real. Three other CBS employees involved with the September broadcast were asked to resign.

Mapes has defended her reporting and has been critical of the panel's conclusions. ``When this whole debacle started, I was asked by CBS not to say anything,'' she said recently. ``I had to silently watch while my work was taken apart. I would like a chance to set the record straight about ... the very valid journalism behind the story.''