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USA Edition | Today Is Monday, March 22, 2010 |
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USA Edition | Today Is Monday, March 22, 2010 |
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Newsroom Editors & Contributor Opinions
The CBS Evening News With Dan Rather
I want to go the distance. Like any good reporter, I want to get as many as facts as possible; I want to get to the bottom of the story.
Dan Rather
New York — Only 15 months ago, Dan Rather, former CBS Evening News Managing Editor, filed suit against CBS Corporation claiming wrongful termination, corporate interference in news judgment, and a politically motivated review board. To the displeasure of his detractors, some of Rather’s complaints against his former employer, CBS Corporation, and his former bosses, Sumner Redstone, Andrew Heyward, and Leslie Moonves, remain at bar and may go to trial. Those seeking to know where the case stands will find an excellent analysis in this New York Times Report On Rather Case article.
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But there’s a good deal more to the Rather case than its path of litigation, for the issues raised by Mr. Rather are inherently affirmative to journalistic standards, values and ethics. Not for what Mr. Rather may or may not have aired, but for what did not air and what was happening behind the camera. By taking a stand, putting his reputation on the line, and fronting millions of dollars in legal fees, Dan Rather is going after CBS News, and its corporate parent, with all the energy and resources of an experienced reporter.
Journalist Dan Rather
Rather’s goal, beyond any personal satisfaction or monies that might come from this case, it one of immense importance to the House Of The Fourth Estate itself. Rather persists in his demands to get at the facts to reveal the sordid underbelly of CBS’ corrupted network television news division. Whether one likes Mr. Rather, or believes he was properly dismissed for his 60 Minutes report on President Bush’s military record is not germane to the issue at bar. For the journalistic issues are far broader and of significantly greater consequence to both press freedoms and nation.
60 Minutes: CBS News Magazine
For non journalists, the Rather case is about failures in CBS’ 60 Minutes II production unit, by or with the knowledge of producer Mary Mapes. On the surface the issues relate to a report aired on September 8th, 2004 in which allegations were made concerning the Texas Air National Guard career of U. S. President George W. Bush. Dan Rather was narrator of that report.
Whether or not the report was properly vetted, researched and edited produced a political ground-swell. According to Rather’s allegations that led to outside, possibly politically motivated demands that CBS disclaim the report and fire reporter Dan Rather from his principal job as managing editor of the CBS Evening News. None of these issues has been settled to anyone’s satisfaction. Nor are many of them likely to be resolved by Mr. Rather’s litigation with CBS.
The reason is that what was going on behind the scenes at CBS, beginning well before the airing of the Bush National Guard report, is far more significant. Mr. Rather has said that subsequent reports on the Bush story aired on The CBS Evening News were adversely impacted by institutional bias, political deal making, and/or executive interference in news reporting and editing. There is evidence to suggest that corporate malfeasance and interference has subsumed journalistic standards and integrity at all commercial television networks — making the outcome of the Rather case of immense importance to a nation of free sovereigns.
Newsroom Magazine has aligned itself with Mr. Rather’s litigation solely for its potential value in shedding light on the immensely complicated relationship that has obtained between government, partisan politics, public policy, and journalistic standards and practices. In his ammended complaint, Mr. Rather describes the internal forces at play in network television news.
What we have come to admire in the way Mr. Rather has addressed this matter is how his litigation promises to shed light on the corruptive forces in television journalism. Why did Leslie Moonves want to please the White House? What advantages or risks did CBS Corporation seek to avoid by infringing on the journalistic prerogatives of a long-proven and well-honored news division?
While these are important issues for all serious journalists, so are the ramifications of an internal investigation whose outcome was defined before being empaneled, and the concealed motivations arising from the needs, wants or aspirations of other CBS Corporation companies. Now matter that such needs may be lawful and genuine, their being cause for intentional concealment of CBS meddling, or outright adulteration of CBS News standards and practices, is of immense importance our freedoms as they are to Mr. Rather’s reputation. We do not know, and do not claim that CBS did any of this, for ascertaining those facts is the principal purpose of Mr. Rather’s litigation.
Based solely on the public record, we are convinced that what Mr. Rather is seeking by his costly litigation with CBS is potentially of greater value to The House Of The Fourth Estate than his own personal interests. We believe that is his intention as well. At a time when few in broadcasting are willing to take a stand against the forces that threaten our profession and our nation, Dan Rather is standing tall, taking the heat, paying the bills and waiting for his day in court.
With so much at stake in these troubled times, we ask all Americans to support Dan Rather in his efforts to defend the Honored Profession and own his good name.
Robert Butche
Publisher,
Newsroom Magazine
