The only screw-up bigger than the U.S. response to the terrorist attack in Benghazi has been the media’s reporting on Benghazi.

On Oct. 27, “60 Minutes” correspondent Lara Logan interviewed Dylan Davies, a former security contractor who was assigned to Libya during the terrorist attack.

Davies told a captivating story of how he attempted to fight off terrorists who attacked the consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012.

His interview reinforced a narrative that conservative media have salivated over since the attack.

Conservative politicians quickly cited the Davies interview as fodder for their talking points on Benghazi. Finally, they had someone outside of the Fox News echo chamber who validated their theories.

“This ‘60 Minutes’ #benghazi piece corroborates pretty much everything #foxnews has reported so far,” tweeted the National Review’s Jonah Goldberg.

Goldberg is correct; the story was a gripping and fascinating narrative of the Obama administration’s incompetence in Benghazi.

It was also complete B.S.

Lara Logan’s interview became a scandal and rightfully so. Dylan Davies is a liar.

He told his employer and the FBI that he was nowhere near the compound at the time of the attack. This information was found within 24 hours of the broadcast by The New York Times and Washington Post.

However, is Logan a liar or just incompetent? Undoubtedly, she and “60 Minutes” bungled this story, but was it really a malicious oversight?

The once-stellar credibility of “60 Minutes” has taken an irreparable hit, compounded by their soft retraction the following week.

Buried at the end of the Nov. 9 telecast, Logan’s mea culpa lasted exactly 90 seconds.

“It was a mistake to include Davies in our report,” Logan said. “For that we are very sorry. The most important thing to everyone at ‘60 Minutes’ is the truth, and the truth is, we made a mistake.”

Duh!

I, having been a reporter this semester, can only conclude that Logan is not a scapegoat. She is a liar as well. She willfully ran a story without acknowledging numerous conflicts of interest.

After an internal review, CBS concluded the story was mishandled from the start. The report cited conflicts of interest between Logan, CBS News and Dylan Davies.

For example, Logan gave a critical speech on the U.S. response to Benghazi before her report.

Also, Logan is married to Josh Burkett, who was an employee of a now-shuttered strategic communications firm hired during the Bush administration to plant positive stories in Baghdad newspapers during the Iraq War.

Finally, CBS is the parent company of Simon and Schuster who was publishing a book by Davies.

On Nov. 26, the guillotine fell on Logan. CBS News made Logan take a leave of absence.

Logan is still scheduled to be a speaker at the Bryan Series on April 8, 2014. I urge those who plan the Bryan Series speakers to follow CBS’s example and cut her from the schedule.

The impeccable reputation of the Bryan Series should not suffer a needless loss of credibility by incorporating a person whose work violates Guilford College’s core value of integrity.