AOL News invited Dan Rather to respond to the controversy following his remarks about the state of television news.
Let me put one thing to rest right away: CBS Corp. Chief Executive Les Moonves' charge that my "dumbing it down, tarting it up" comments about the CBS Evening News were "sexist," presumably because of my use of the "T word" in describing a newscast anchored by a woman. Nice try at misdirection from the issue at hand -- the parlous state of news, particularly television news -- but no cigar; I've used that phrase dozens of times in the past (such as documented here, here, and here) to describe the disturbing trend in news toward shallow, celebrity-obsessed coverage, in contexts where it clearly had nothing to do with gender.
Now that we've settled that, how about we have a real conversation in this country about the real issue: Our nation and our world face enormous challenges, many being of the life-or-death variety. Nuclear proliferation. Climate change. The health-care crisis. The growing gap between rich and poor. The ways that the war on terrorism has changed how we understand and interpret our Constitution and our bedrock values as a free and democratic society. There are debates about these and other pressing issues before us but, for the most part, they have been limited to our political elites, and these folks tend to already have a dog in the fight.
In fewer than nine months, the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations will likely be locked up. In less than a year-and-a-half, we will be going to the polls to choose a new president. Yet the rank-and-file American voter is not being drawn into the central debates of our time. And the information he or she gets about the presidential campaign is largely limited to the political horse race.
Why? One of the big reasons is the absurdly disproportionate coverage that news organizations give to celebrity "news" and other tales of scandal and prurience. They hope for a short-term ratings and demographics fix, while the long-term, important problems -- the ones that actually have a bearing on our lives -- get pushed out of broadcasts and the ever-shrinking "news hole" in print publications.
We can talk about that, we can debate whether this is good for our country and what we should do about it -- or we can turn this into another celebrity story involving two anchors and a network CEO.
Reader Comments ( Page 28 of 29)
406. this sounds like the Dan of long ago, before he began to slant the news in his direction.
Funny, what I want in a news man is just about the same thing I want in the white house. I want a man or woman who is willing to piss me off, to tell me the truth. I am a Texas woman, Dan can relate to this,,,,, don't mix my castor oil in orange juice, give it to me straight. You can't hide the taste of the castor oil and you will only make me hate the orange juice too.
I am just one woman with an opinion, I don't care who you are, if you lie to me I am not going to like you. In my daily life I know people that I don't agree with, but I like them because they are honest.
I didn't like slick Willie, not because of his low life sexual escapades. I didn't like him because he was anyone's dog that would hunt. No core values he was willing to stand and fight for. He wanted everyone to like him. That isn't what good leaders do, a good leader is willing to listen, form an opinion then stand by it.
If you are a news caster, and you want to express an opinion, that is fine,,, but tell me it is your opinion AFTER you gave me the facts. I want the facts, first then we can debate opinion. If ya see that you are wrong or have been given misinformation, be man or woman enough to say, "I was wrong". Saying, I was wrong isn't flip floping, telling people what ya think they want to hear is where the flip floping comes in.
Chet or David, were not pretty to look at, but America trusted them, because they were trust worthy. They may have not had $350 hair cuts or make up people to powder off the shine, but they had INTEGRITY
Mackie at 10:22PM on Jun 14th 2007
407. There's something happening here, and what it is, isn't exactly clear. George Bush made the statement, "Your either with us (me) or you with the terrorists." It was at times like that, - that I felt I wasn't with George Bush, but I sure as heck wasn't with the terrorists. Dan Rather always had something to say, spoken from the heart, call it commentary, or journalistic response that gave me an ability to come away from subjective politics, and let me focus objectively on what had happened, or what was spoken. In that sense there has been no one comparable that could give us the feeling that maybe we weren't alone in not being with George Bush, but reinforce our certainty that we had no way sided with the 'terrorists.'
Dan Rather gave me the feeling that I could feel what I did, and I was still an American. There has been no one on his level that is seen as regularly by the public that has been able to fill his shoes. I for one sorely miss his reporting, a man who I consider to be the best news man of our time. A man whose absence has left the news to come to me like caotic waves of where I ponder where America is headed, what our image is to the world today, and what America has come to stand for in the new millennium.
Robert Wagner at 10:24PM on Jun 14th 2007
408. I really liked to watch Dan! He always had a statement that made you sit back and think about what he was trying to point out. I wished that he was still with CBS. I did try and watch CBS after he departed but found it was not the same.
Dave at 10:49PM on Jun 14th 2007
409. Nice try Katie, but you're no Walter Cronkite or Edward R Murrow since CBS TV "news" went to entertain Rather than inform us properly with"the weapon of television."
jjstaple at 10:51PM on Jun 14th 2007
410. Mr. Les Moonves's reaction to Dan Rather's critique of CBS Nightly News is overly defensive of his own flawed judgment and miscalulations in selecting the current news anchor.
RUTH at 11:01PM on Jun 14th 2007
411. How refreshing! Thank you! Too often, when I turn on the news, I am force fed a daily dose of gossip, from commentators who are more interested in tripping someone up with worthless innuendos rather than actually reporting the facts. While I understand that "the news" is mostly a story about what has happened, I don't want to hear some anchor's "take" (personal viewpoint) on the news. Sweetie sweet, smarmy faces and overblown stories about the rich and famous are boring. Simply put, news is news and gossip is gossip.
Sheri at 11:15PM on Jun 14th 2007
412. I turn on the news for world information, not to find out who had cheese on thier sandwich. What is happening in Vensuela ,Mexico,Korea, and Washington D.C., or Teran is more what I tune in expecting to see. Stories on college and grant studies being done to find out ways or safer alternate feuling of the word, information on important things riots,bombing,poising. All of the news gatherors need to get back to giving facts and not opions of how they want people to think, feel, vote, and believe. We were taught in writing class (before the internet) to check facts three times, three different sourses, and then make a statement of the what was investigated.
sc at 11:30PM on Jun 14th 2007
413. Dan Rather is a top newsman. All the facts in the Bush Air National Guard are 100% accurate even though some documents were not authentic. Katie was fine on Today but is way out of her depths against Williams and Gibson.And Dan's use of the t word is not sexist as he has demonstrated.
Gerald Schwartz
Gerald Schwartz at 11:47PM on Jun 14th 2007
414. It is like all other news casts. Their producers produce what they want to produce and unless all of the anchors, reporters or whatever you call them are really dum they wouldn't like it either.
Corporate America...in a nutshell. Exactly.
Corporate United States. America is not only the United States.
The world, the politics spreads not only on our Congress and Senate. It (the politics) spreads everywhere. Retail...Walmart...a continual pass. Real news on the company is ignored until someone with a name bites. I have covered Walmart news for years. I have reported issues and been ignored. Months later some "news channel" picks up something and it is news. It already was news, hardly anyone saw it when I wrote it unless they follow my writing. It's all one big soap opera. From Paris Hilton to Bentonville Arkansas and beyond. Katie Couric IS AN OVERPAID TART AND I MEAN TART ... SHE IS JUST AN OLD PARIS HILTON. NO BRAIN...JUST KATIE.
Julie Pierce at 2:36AM on Jun 15th 2007
415. IF YOU WANT GOOD REPORTING TUNE INTO
AMY GOODMAN.
... just do a web search, you'll find her
jon at 3:50AM on Jun 15th 2007
416. IF YOU WANT GOOD REPORTING TUNE INTO
AMY GOODMAN.
... just do a web search, you'll find her
jon at 3:49AM on Jun 15th 2007
417. For the record, in our home we use several sources for hard news, almost never network news.
Rather is washed up, embittered, Cronkite wannabe! That is a fact, he liked to compare himself with the legendary Walter C but never achieved anything remotely close. Rather often over dramatized in attempts to insinuate himself in place of real news stories, several of which HE got wrong.
Try the BBC for concise world news coverage with real hard news, never a mention of P.hilton or such. Additionally the PBS news team is excellent. Here on the net there are numerous resources which provide excellent real news of the day, we get to 'designe our own' as it were in picking what should occupy our time in providing WORLD NEWS. Of course there are the cable networks for picking up tidbits, some better than others.
Network so called news went down the tubes years ago, Rather played a part in that. Yellow tabloid stories and special interest tid-bit's have replaced the NEWS OF THE DAY, all in a mad rush for rating$$$. All Katie needs is that breaking big story she breaks and owns to give her CBS news that lift. The vast majority of the public still require a 'safety figure' talking head, news-SHOWS in place of factual hard news.
This just in: IF searching for NEWS look off NETWORK!
Steve at 7:02AM on Jun 15th 2007
418. Dan Rather is the poster boy for all that has been wrong with the liberal press for years. Instead of reporting the news, he always put his bias into it. He could never figure out that most Americans just want the facts and we can decide on our own. I just watched him on HDnet and he spent the entire time interviewing West Point cadets trying to get them to say they did not support the war...they would not and you could see it in his face that he was pissed off...he is a joke and I am so glad he was fired from network news
Jerry at 7:59AM on Jun 15th 2007
419. Rather is right on the mark but demonstrates that he doesn't get how to convey his point. In today's world, you have to be specific and avoid expressions like "tarting up the news when talking about Katie Couric. He invites distraction. There is no ddoubt that news coverage spends far too much time on slutty little hollywood tarts than on the key issues facing our Nation and the World today. As for Ms. Couric, we tried and now watch Charles Gibson.
James Davies at 7:59AM on Jun 15th 2007
420.
Calamus at 9:41AM on Jun 16th 2007