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 3 of 29)
31. Dan Rather is on the money! Couric's newscast is embarassing to watch, sophomoric at best. I tried to watch her the first week and gave up. I tried again recently and decided to stick with Brian Williams. I agree with Rather and Gore about the arrogance of the celebrity-obsessed news coverage by the networks who treat us, the US electorate, like we were a bunch of morons. The media should be focusing on truly important issues:the economy, climate change, the threat of terrorism, tensions relating to constitutional rights balanced against the need to effectively combat homegrown terrorists, Medicare and Social Security and the Health Care crisis. I do not want to hear about Paris Hilton, Anna Nicole Smith, Mel Gibson or Benifer!
sushbhard at 6:49PM on Jun 13th 2007
32. I like news thats gets it right, accuracy is more important than fame. Rather has gotten so much wrong in the past that I barely even know he is around until he screws up again like now. Katie does a good job, Dan does a poor job, Chrlie does a great job, it is about accuracy and not T-n-A. Get it right, get it good and move on to the next story.
Mike at 6:50PM on Jun 13th 2007
33. I have to agree with the decline of the newscasts, both national, and, especially, local. I VERY rately watch the local (St. Louis, MO ) news, as it is almost completely sensationalistic. It is sad to see the national forum heading in this direction, too.
peter malench at 8:43AM on Jun 14th 2007
34. Dan Rather helped to create the degenerated state of network news today. If you want the truth you must search for it elsewhere.
danwlow at 8:27PM on Jun 13th 2007
35. Dan rather has the butter pat! I live outside of the USA but watch cable news regularly. my impression is that as Dan states...the American Television media landscape has rushed headlong into frivolity in order to counter the rather significant and serious threat posed by the Internet. While all the players now have their own Webcasts and their products are "served" up on the Internet, there seems to be an understanding that the industry is being faced more and more with people who are growing much busier and have shorter attention spans than before. as a result, it seems that in the world of TV they are taking too many shortcuts to engage this ever-shifting and morphing demographic as a measure to capture its interest. the result? Mediocrity and significantly skewed priorities as it relates to what is most important for people to know. the trivial stuff often filling the media serving space....covers what is about and affects only a very small percentile of the viewing public......the needs of the majority are being swept under the rug!
Josef Gramsci at 12:57PM on Jun 14th 2007
36. Go DAN! Call it as you see it! Who cares about Paris Hilton whining in jail, where she out to be, by the way! Give us the REAL issues! What's happening to America that they have to be bs'd.
mfayababy at 6:51PM on Jun 13th 2007
37. Good for Dan Rather! However, discussions about the issues Dan brings to light relative to the relevance of today's broadcast journalism are not limited to the political elite, but most educated citizens I know. I suggest those who feel the "news" should be entertaining should check out a copy of the insightful movie "Network", from the 70's or 80's, just to see how much worse things have actually become in reporting the "news".
peter arendt at 6:52PM on Jun 13th 2007
38. Dan,
you are absolutely right. Your comments should not only be directed at CBS but also at all the so-called news agencies. There is no real journalism anymore, it has become more about the hype! But there is always a price to pay when true unbiased reporting of news is compromised, for when this happens, democracy becomes a casualty.
Cathy B. at 12:24PM on Jun 14th 2007
39. Dan Blather may be correct about Couric, but his credibility has been in the toilet ever since the Bush-Nat'l Guard smear/fiasco.
rich at 10:08AM on Jun 14th 2007
40. I agree with Dan Rathers remarks . I have watched CBS News for years . Since Dan Rather was fired CBS News has really gone down hill,the whole network has . How long has Princess Diane been dead? CBS News is still trying to make news out of it. CBS was hung up on Anna Nichol Smith and is still trying to make news of that too . CBS evening news is Just the Late edition of the Morning show now
Ken Riott at 6:56PM on Jun 13th 2007
41. I used to like to watch Dan Rather but he became too passionate in his reporting. I didn't know what was his opinion or the real news.
Cindy at 6:57PM on Jun 13th 2007
42. I agree with Dan Rather on this point.
The traditional news media has been trending to soft subject matters, such as celebrity gossip and sensationalized stories for many years now. Even the dedicated "news" (ie CNN, Fox, HN) networks have taken to this genre rather than exploring BALANCED stories on the issues Rather mentioned in his blog. These are the salient issues my friends and family prefer to explorer and debate, but find that we must dig through multiple non-traditional sources for reliable information. Often the sources are so slanted, we find it difficult to separate fact from science fiction and conjecture.
We are not amused the media has begun catering to the younger demographics for cheap ratings/viewership rather than pure journalistic (read: to inform) endeavors. It is shameful the amount of time spent on shallow and silly feel-good stories that are frankly more tabloid than substative. Worse yet, when important topics are addressed, it is done with a cursory, glossed-over 2 minute segment (as if all Americans suffer from ADD), not with the deep penetration that is deserved.
Wake up, America! We are priveledged to participate in this process rather than merely be bystanders. America is facing a turning point in our history, where "we the people" must apply critical-thinking skills on the real issues to make informed decisions. We can no longer rely on the media to rally us to action. Rather, they appear to prefer to lull us into a complacent "reality" show that has become our normal nightly news.
cntiner at 6:56PM on Jun 13th 2007
43. Good for Dan Rather. Couldn't agree with him more. If anyone desires to consider just how bad broadcast journalism has become, I suggest they check out a copy of the movie, "Network" (from the 70's or 80's) to undertsand how much worse it actually is.
peter arendt at 6:57PM on Jun 13th 2007
44. Katie Couric is bright, talented, and a fabulous interviewer. Let's not overdo 'news delivery.' All of these evening news folks are just good readers. I doubt that any of them actually do investigative reporting of the news they 'read.' If you watch any of the major evening news programs the anchors just read and help segue from segment to segment, introducing the real work done by the reporters in the field. Katie Couric is not using all of her talents on the evening news, but certainly has all it takes to do the low level journalism tasks evening news requires. Personally, I miss her on the "Today" show where all of her abilities shone. Dan Rather was also a great news reader, but where was the real journalism when he needed it to substantiate the GW piece that fractured his career?
Elaine at 7:03PM on Jun 13th 2007
45. As a child, I remember seeing Walter Croncite and I liked him - a grandpa type of figure; a WW2 guy.
I never cared much for Dan Rather. Superficially I did not like his style or manner; I thoguht he was to heavy on drama. Politically he is to the left of me, but while he did so just barely, he usually managed to contain his own political views while on the air anyway.
However, all that was long ago and I haven't been a regular viewer of broadcast news for years. For whatever reason, nowadays it is either CNN, FOX, or the radio.
I imagine that while Katie Couric is perky and cute, her show is probably pretty light. However having never seen it, I cannot say for certain.
Ken Berg at 7:04PM on Jun 13th 2007