Re: Dan Rather Quitting CBC As far as I know, he is not quitting CBS, but going to leave the evening news desk and go to 60 Minutes, where all the old guys seem to go.
Too bad. He was the last of a breed among television journalists on the major networks, even though he too, at times, sucked at the corporate teet. On balance though, he understood the adversarial nature required by his profession, whereas the others all see their jobs more as PR men.
Dan Rather = Failure Good. ******** 'em. As useful to me and mine as any of these mouthing heads, on any of these artificial, unaccountable legal-person networks raping the airwaves, our airwaves. Watch Amy Goodman. At least she's accessible for critique. or GNN. They handle my criticisms pretty well too. But ******** Rather, and Brokaw, and Jennings, and Hume, and Aaron Brown (especially Aaron Brown) and whoever the hell else positions themselves such that at the crucial time, they cannot ask the most important questions. BTW, Rather blames you and me for the way anchors and "news" networks conduct themselves. Exhibit One, Rather's 6/6/2002 interview on BBC Newsnight (aka what Rather will say about America to non-Americans). Several excerpts: There has never been an American war, small or large in which access has been so limited as this one... ...It's an obscene comparison but there was a time in South Africa when people would put flaming tyres around people's necks if they dissented. In some ways, the fear is that you will be neck-laced here, you will have a flaming tyre of lack of patriotism put around your neck. It's that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions and to continue to bore-in on the tough questions so often. Again, I'm humbled to say I do not except myself from this criticism... ...War is real mud and real blood, real screams of the dying and of death. That is war. What you see in a Hollywood movie or a made-for-television series is not war. It's somebody's glamourised view of war. Even when they say , "Listen we will tell it like it really is", I'm sorry, baloney. What you have is miniature, I'd say miniature, miniature version of what you have in totalitarian states. They produce films about how great the great leader is and how he is getting greater in every way, every day... ...I worry that patriotism run amok will trample the very values that the country seeks to defend. In a constitutional republic based on the principles of democracy such as ours, you simply cannot sustain warfare, without the people at large understanding why we fight, how we fight, and have a sense of accountability to the very top... ...What has been done practically in real terms is in direct variance with what the Pentagon stated policy is. Pentagon stated policy is maximum access and maximum information, consistent with national security... ...What is going on to a very large extent I'm sorry to say, is a belief that the public doesn't need to know, limiting access, limiting information to cover the backsides of those who are in charge of the war, is extremely dangerous and cannot and should not be accepted and I'm sorry, to say that up to and including the moment of this interview, that overwhelmingly it has been accepted by the American people. And the current administration revels in that, they relish that and take refuge in that... ...It starts with a feeling of patriotism within one's self. It carries through with the knowledge that the country as a whole and for all of the right reasons, felt and continues to feel this surge of patriotism within themselves. And one finds one's self saying, "I know the right question but you know what, this is not exactly the right time to ask it..?" ...The belief weren't so strong in both the political and military leadership of the current war effort, that those who control the images will control public opinion. They realise when an entertainment orientated society ours has become, therefore one way of looking it's a is quite natural, they say to themselves, "Hey, we had the Hollywood-isation of the news, we've had the Hollywood-isation of almost everything else in society, why not the Hollywood-isation of the war?" I want to say quietly, but as forcefully as I can, that I hope this doesn't go any further, it's gone too far already. I'm appalled by it, I do think it's an outrage, this is a personal opinion... Now, Exhibit Two, Rather's appearance on Letterman (aka what Rather is willing to say about America TO Americans): "George Bush is the President. He makes the decisions, and, you know, it’s just one American, wherever he wants me to line up, just tell me where." x the number of American and other deaths as a result of treating 9/11 as a war and not as a heinous crime, as well as folks like Rather INSURING we never had a open, pan-mediascape discussion as a democracy about it. He can't get out of my frame FAST enough. Enjoy retirement, hypocrite. And take these other mouthing heads with you. No Slack for the Slackers. No Praise for the Pussillanimous.
He was of the generation, along with Brokaw & Jennings, where the anchor had to make his bones for many yrs. by covering the war in 'Nam or some conflict on the other side of the globe. HELLO!! He's a million dollar suit reading from a teleprompter. If the person is presentable & likeable, I don't give a sh!t if he was working on local cable access last month. Dan always looked like he couldn't wait for the camera to turn off.
Re: Dan Rather = Failure Mel, when you make DoctorJones24 seem like a right-wing nutjob in comparison, isn't it time to pause for a second?
Re: Dan Rather = Failure You find value in the professional manifestations of Rather, the mainstream media, and the corporate choices among many ways to do business that currently spawn them, that's you. I don't. I won't. If that positions me outside your considerations of the "spectrum," cool beans. When you find Rather saying to CBS viewers what he's willing to say to BBC viewers, I'll reconsider. Of course, pretty white frosted throwable ice-spheres will thrive in Hades before that ever happens, but you keep waiting and hoping. ******** all these mouthing heads.
Rather's a disgrace to journalism; don't let the door hit you in the butt Dan on your way out of CBS! Fox News: Fair & Balanced!
Okay, so, are we ever going to get to the bottom of the memo story? If Rather is resigning, does that mean he typed them himself? How do we not have a right to know this?
Big deal. Not. CBS Evening News was the lowest in ratings anyway. Nobody watches it. If it hadn't been for the furor over the faked documents this "story" wouldn't have any legs at all. Rather was a very effective war correspondent back in the day but he was never able to come close to Walter Cronkite in the studio. I hope CBS uses this opportunity to put a decent face in the chair and goes on. But if they don't, there are a half dozen other options out there. *sigh*
Ballpark fugures, but NBC has 11 million, ABC has 10 million while CBS has 7 million. 7 million regular viewers is third place, but even with all the changes in the industry, new technology and the 24/7 news of today, I'd be willing to guess that no cable news show gets anything near 7 million viewers a night. The key here, since CBS is third and I would guess wouldn't mind going back to first (they have been before), is the chance for a third place network to be willing to try something new and different, groundbreaking, or just be happy with the 7 million. The talk about Dan Rather the past couple of days has been plain silly. I'd like to see what CBS has in mind, but won't change my viewing as a result. This is where things stand now. Two things seem to influence by remote control. Either I like someone and won't change him/her, or I totally can't stand someone and avoid him/her. Dan was neither of these to me.
I'll try to find a link but I remember a local talk show host quoting numbers about 2 months ago that showed Fox ahead of CBS for 3rd place.
FNC, Fox? The 6:30 pm est timeslot? Who is on then? Brit Hume? I do like him, but have been turned off Fox for other reasons. Interesting.
I doubt it, I think Fox news is in the 2-3 million range, still much lower than the networks Any claim for Fox beating CBS would have to be regular Fox, not Fox News, and probably some single event like the election.