Josh Howard, Rathergate casualty, loses his CNBC job the old-fashioned way

Hey, remember Josh Howard? He was a top producer at CBS News and right in the thick of the Bush National Guard memos misadventure that wound up costing Dan Rather, Mary Mapes and everyone around them their jobs. I remember Howard because he was fired even though he seemed the only guy in that circle more interested in getting at the truth than covering up CBS's shoddy reporting. From page 173 of the Rathergate report:

Later on September 10, Howard would again express concerns to West, Mapes and Heyward about the Segment after speaking with Peter Tytell, an individual with extensive typewriter experience. At that time, Howard's concerns again were not acted upon and thereafter Howard did not have a major role in the Aftermath, with West (a CBS exec) apparently taking the management lead and Mapes taking the production lead on follow-up stories that defended the Segment.

I love how they capitalized "Aftermath."

Well, anyway, Howard landed on his feet. He was hired by CNBC to create a documentary unit more or less from scratch. And it produced some high-quality, Emmy-winning programs. But now, with big cutbacks underway at NBC Universal and the CNBC docu shop a goner, he's using those feet he landed on to walk out the door.