Task: Story Composition
Input (English): Fact1: prologue establishes journalistic bona fides of Bergman and Mike Wallace, Fact2: Wigand refuses to discuss Bergman anything else citing, Fact3: B&W coerce Wigand leading Wigand to accuse Bergman of betraying him, Fact4: Bergman visits Wigand to defend himself and investigate potential story, Fact5: Scruggs urges Bergman to air full segment to draw public support for lawsuit under threat by lawsuit from Governor of Mississippi
Output (English): A prologue establishes the journalistic bona fides of Bergman and Mike Wallace as they prepare to interview Sheikh Fadlallah for 60 Minutes. Bergman approaches Wigand—a former executive at the Brown  Williamson tobacco company—for help translating technical documents. Wigand agrees, but intrigues Bergman when he refuses to discuss anything else, citing a confidentiality agreement. BW later coerce Wigand into a more restrictive agreement, leading Wigand to accuse Bergman of betraying him. Bergman subsequently visits Wigand to defend himself and investigate the potential story. Wigand, though apparently possessing very damaging information, is hesitant to jeopardize his severance package with BW by revealing anything. The Wigand family move into a more modest house, Wigand now working as a teacher. One night Wigand finds evidence of trespass, and receives a sinister phone call. Bergman contacts Richard Scruggs, an attorney representing Mississippi in a lawsuit against the tobacco industry, suggesting that if they deposed Wigand, it could negate his confidentiality agreement and give CBS cover to broadcast the information. Scruggs expresses interest. Some time later Wigand receives an emailed death threat, and finds a bullet in his mailbox. He contacts the FBI, but the agents who attend are hostile and confiscate his computer. A furious Wigand demands that Bergman arrange an interview. In the interview, Wigand states that he was fired after he objected to BW intentionally making their cigarettes more addictive. Bergman later arranges a security detail for Wigands home, and the Wigands suffer marital stress. Wigand testifies in Mississippi, over the objections of BW attorneys, despite having been served with a gag order. On returning home, he discovers that his wife Liane Diane Venora has left him and taken their daughters. Eric Kluster, the president of CBS News, decides not to broadcast Wigands interview, after CBS legal counsel Helen Kaperelli warns that CBS is at risk of legal action from BW. Bergman confronts Kluster, believing that he is protecting the impending sale of CBS to Westinghouse, which would enrich both Kluster and Kaperelli. Wallace, and their executive producer Don Hewitt, both side with Kluster. Wigand is appalled, and terminates contact with Bergman. Investigators probe Wigands personal history and publish their findings in a 500page dossier. Bergman learns that The Wall Street Journal intends to use it in a piece questioning Wigands credibility. He convinces the editor of the Journal to delay while Jack Palladino, an attorney and investigator, evaluates it. After infighting at CBS over the segment, Bergman is ordered to take a vacation, as the abridged 60 Minutes segment airs. Bergman contacts Wigand, who is both dejected and furious, accusing Bergman of manipulating him. Bergman defends himself and praises Wigand and his testimony. Scruggs urges Bergman to air the full segment to draw public support for their lawsuit, itself under threat by a lawsuit from the Governor of Mississippi. Bergman is unable to assist, and privately questions his own motives in pursuing the story. Bergman contacts an editor at The New York Times, disclosing the full story and events at CBS. The Times prints the story on the front page, and condemns CBS in a scathing editorial. The Journal dismisses the dossier as character assassination and prints Wigands deposition. Hewitt accuses Bergman of betraying CBS, but finds that Wallace now agrees that bowing to corporate pressure was a mistake. 60 Minutes finally airs the original segment, including the full interview with Wigand. Bergman tells Wallace that he has resigned, believing 60 Minutes credibility and integrity is now permanently tarnished.