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Dan Rather

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File:Danrather.jpg
Dan Rather, from a telecast in October 2004.

Daniel Irvin Rather (born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist. He currently is the anchorman and managing editor of CBS Evening News and a former White House correspondent. He is the third most watched news anchor in the United States, behind Tom Brokaw of NBC and Peter Jennings of ABC. He will step down as CBS anchor in March of 2005.

Biography

Rather was born in Wharton, Texas. In 1953 he received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Sam Houston State Teachers College. Rather began his career in 1950 as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville. Later, he was a reporter for United Press International (1950–1952), several Texas radio stations, and the Houston Chronicle (1954–1955). In 1959, he entered television as a reporter for KTRK-TV in Houston. Prior to joining CBS News, Rather was news director for KHOU-TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston.

In 1961, Rather reported live from the Galveston seawall as Hurricane Carla threatened the Texas coastline. This action, which has been imitated by countless other reporters to this day, impressed the network executives at CBS, and they hired him as a CBS News correspondent in 1962. In his autobiography, Rather notes that back then TV stations didn't have their own radar systems, and of course nobody then had the modern computerized radar that combines the radar image with an outline map. So he took a camera crew to a US Navy radar station in Galveston, where a technician drew a rough outline of the Gulf of Mexico on a sheet of plastic, and held that over the radar display to give Rather's audience an idea of the storm's size and position.

Rather—quite by accident, as described in his autobiography—was the first journalist to report that President John F. Kennedy had died of wounds received from an assassin.

His reporting throughout the Kennedy assassination and subsequent events brought him to the attention of CBS News management, which rewarded him with the White House beat in 1964. After serving as a foreign correspondent for CBS News, he drew the assignment as primary anchor for the CBS Weekend News, while serving as White House correspondent during the Richard Nixon presidency.

Success as correspondent to the long-running news show 60 Minutes brought him in line to succeed Walter Cronkite as main anchor of the CBS Evening News. He assumed the position upon Cronkite's retirement, his first broadcast taking place on March 9, 1981. From the beginning of his tenure, it was clear that Rather had a significantly different style of reporting the news. As opposed to the avuncular Cronkite, who ended his newscast with "That's the way it is." Dan Rather tentatively ended the show with "That's part of our world tonight." During the 1980s, Rather tried ending his broadcasts with the word "courage" and was roundly ridiculed for it.

Rather's position at CBS was not helped when viewership for the news broadcast he anchored declined precipitously. Rather won the audience back for a time during the early 1980s, but as CBS went through an institutional crisis and ultimate purchase by Laurence Tisch, the viewership levels fell.

In 1984, Tisch oversaw the layoffs of thousands of CBS News employees, including numerous correspondents such as David Andelman, Fred Graham, Morton Dean, and Ike Pappas. Fewer videotape crews were dispatched to cover stories, numerous bureaus were shuttered. The Evening News was transformed overnight from a newscast featuring enterprise reports from seasoned CBS News correspondents to one in which Rather would read "voice-over" stories to footage shot by other news organizations. The events depicted in the movie Broadcast News are thought to closely parallel those of CBS' downsizing; Rather is thought by many to be the model for the part played by Jack Nicholson, the anchor whose own astronomical salary was deemed sacrosanct as the little people were let go.

For a short time from 1993 to 1995, Rather co-anchored the evening news with Connie Chung. The experiment was cancelled however, and Rather went back to doing the newscast solo.

As of early 2003, the CBS Evening News is in third place in terms of viewership, behind NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight. Rather has recently announced that he will retire from his position effective March 2005.

Rather is also a columnist whose work is distributed by King Features Syndicate.

His daughter, Robin works for the Democratic party in Texas.

Criticism

Old-fashioned

As one of the last people from the era of network news primacy, Rather is highly regarded within his profession by many long-serving journalists. However, others who have since come into the field express dislike for Rather's methods, views and delivery. Some contend that Rather's methods are not traditional, but instead are biased towards a liberal bent.

Conflict along these lines most recently came to light when he refused to run stories about Chandra Levy, a former Congressional intern who went missing for several months before her remains were found in a suburban Washington park. During most of the search for Levy, Rather refused to run any stories about the case and routinely condemned his colleagues for giving air time to the search for her.

Shortly thereafter in 2002, the American press began focusing on kidnappings (especially of young white girls like Elizabeth Smart). This time, Rather followed suit in reporting the story. His defenders interpreted the move as an indication that Rather's power for traditionalism within CBS News had declined. His critics argued it was another proof of Rather's liberal bias, because one of the prime figures in the Levy case was Democratic congressman Gary Condit.

Nixon

During the presidency of Richard Nixon, conservative political figures accused Rather of being unfair in his coverage. At a Houston, Texas news conference in 1974, Nixon fielded a question from a ABC reporter, but Rather, still CBS's White House correspondent, jumped in: "Thank you, Mr. President. Dan Rather, of CBS News. Mr. President..." The room filled with jeers and applause, prompting Nixon to joke "Are you running for something?" Rather replied "No, sir, Mr. President. Are you?"

CBS apparently considered firing Rather and its news president met with administration official John Ehrlichman to discuss the situation. According to NBC's Tom Brokaw, the network considered hiring him as its White House correspondent to replace Rather. But CBS' plans to do so were scrapped after word was leaked to the press.

Afghanistan, Reagan and George H.W. Bush

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Dan Rather gained national recognition for his reports from Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion of 1980

During the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, Dan Rather was filmed wearing a traditional Mujahadeen headress and garments while reporting from near the front lines. These reports were some of the first by Rather which helped him gain national prominence.

Later on during the 1980s, Rather gained further renown to some for his forceful and skeptical reporting on the Iran-Contra Affair that eventually led to an on-air confrontation he had with then vice-president George H. W. Bush.

This incident was widely believed to have been a notable event in Bush's campaign to win the presidency in the 1988 election. It also marked the beginning of Rather's ratings decline, a slump from which he has never recovered. Bush never forgave him and refused to grant Rather an interview after their initial tangle. His son George W. Bush has apparently followed suit, and has thus far declined to grant Rather an interview during his presidency.

Shortly after the Gulf War began, Dan Rather secured an interview with Saddam Hussein which, among other things, captured the flavor of Saddam's boldness towards the US. [1]

"There is no powerful and quick strike that a people could deliver, whatever their overall power. The United States depends on the Air Force. The Air Force has never decided a war in the history of wars."
Saddam Hussein in interview with Dan Rather, Aug 29, 1990

The Wall Within

On June 2, 1988, Dan Rather hosted the CBS News special, The Wall Within. In the special, Dan Rather interviewed six individuals who presented themselves as Vietnam veterans. All six men purported to have witnessed horrible acts in Vietnam. Some said that they killed civilians and others said that they saw friends die. Each man talked about the effects that the war had upon their lives such as becoming mentally depressed, becoming unemployed, using drugs, and becoming homeless. Upon further scrutiny of the claims made by the six men it was discovered that only one of the six men was actually in Vietnam. He claimed to have been a 16 year-old Navy SEAL but was actually an equipment repairman. While researching for his book Stolen Valor:How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History (ISBN 096670360X), B. G. Burkett claims that he easily obtained the service records of all six men which records where each man was stationed during the Vietnam War. Burkett's book relied entirely on "easily obtained" military records from that era, which were often incomplete or conflicting with personal accounts. For example, clandestine missions into Laos and Cambodia were almost never a part of the official record. Since the program's airing in 1988, neither CBS nor Dan Rather have issued a retraction for the content of the CBS News special.

Clinton

Some conservatives accused Rather of going easy on stories critical of President Clinton. These critics gained further ammunition when The Washington Post revealed [2] he had raised money for the Democratic Party of Texas. The incident dogged Rather for weeks and he was asked about it repeatedly by fellow journalists.

Asked why he attended it Rather answered that he didn't ask whether it was a fundraiser, but that he should have. "I take full responsibility for it. I'm responsible and I'm accountable." Without being paid, Rather said he had agreed to discuss election coverage at his old friend's Austin City Council member Will Wynn's back yard, but which was to his surprise a fundraiser when he arrived.

Recent years

Rather has drawn some criticism for his unabashedly pro-American slant in covering international politics. In a 1999 speech he conceded "I'm an American reporter. Yes, I'm a reporter and I want to be accurate. I want to be fair. But I'm an American. I consider the U.S. government my government. So yes I do--when U.S. pilots in U.S. aircrafts turn off the lights, for me, it's 'we.'" [3] He elaborated on this theme in 2003: "Look, I'm an American. I never tried to kid anybody that I'm some internationalist or something. And when my country is at war, I want my country to win, whatever the definition of win may be. Now, I can't and don't argue that that is coverage without a prejudice. About that I am prejudiced." (Larry King Live, April 14, 2003)

Rather has also commented on the pressures many journalists feel to support conservative policies. "There was a time in South Africa that people would put flaming tires around people's necks if they dissented. And in some ways the fear is that you will be necklaced here, you will have a flaming tire of lack of patriotism put around your neck. Now it is 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. And I am humbled to say I do not except myself from this criticism. ... It starts with a feeling of patriotism within oneself. ... And one finds oneself saying: 'I know the right question, but you know what? This is not exactly the right time to ask it.'" (BBC Newsnight, May 16, 2002)

George W. Bush and the Killian Memos

On 60 Minutes on September 8, 2004, Rather went public with a series of documents concerning President George W. Bush's Air National Guard service record. The documents in question purported to indicate that Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian declared Bush unfit for flight status for failure to obey an order to submit to a physical examination. The authenticity of these documents was quickly questioned by experts and critics as well as Killian's son and widow. Many document analysts quoted by the media stated that the memos are forgeries. Initially strongly standing by the memos, Rather and CBS later announced that they could not vouch for the authenticity of the documents. CBS stated that using the memos was a "mistake" and Rather apologized for the incident. Their source, former Texas Army National Guard officer named Bill Burkett, initially misled a CBS producer about the source of the documents and now states they came from another source.


See Killian memos for more information.

Retirement from the Evening News

Rather is scheduled to retire as the anchorman and Managing Editor of the "CBS Evening News" in March 2005. He will have worked as the anchorman for 24 years, the longest tenure of anyone in television history. He will continue working as a correspondent for "60 Minutes"

Awards

Rather is one of the most awarded figures within the journalism community. He has received numerous Emmys, several Peabody awards and several honorary degrees from universities.

Notable incidents

1968 Democratic convention

During live coverage of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Rather attempted to interview a delegate who appeared as though he were being forcibly removed by men without identification badges.

As Rather approached the delegate to question the apparent strong-arm tactics of the Chicago political machine, he was punched in the stomach by one of the men knocking him to the ground. "He lifted me right off the floor and put me away. I was down, the breath knocked out of me, as the whole group blew on by me...In the CBS control room, they had switched the camera onto me just as I was slugged."

"Kenneth, what is the frequency?"

In October 1986, as Rather was walking along Park Avenue in Manhattan to his apartment, he was attacked and punched from behind by a man who demanded to know, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" As the assailant pummeled and kicked Rather, he kept repeating the question over and over again. In describing the incident, Rather said, "I got mugged. Who understands these things? I didn't and I don't now. I didn't make a lot of it at the time and I don't now. I wish I knew who did it and why, but I have no idea."

The bizarre incident and Rather's account led some even to doubt the veracity of Rather's story. Nevertheless, the story entered popular lore and remained unsolved for some time. The incident inspired a song called "Kenneth, What's The Frequency?" by the band Game Theory in 1987, and in 1994 the band R.E.M. released the much more widely-known song "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" on the album Monster. It became the subject of many jokes over the years and slang for a confused or clueless person. Rather actually sang with the band when they performed the song on the David Letterman show.

Many theories existed about why Rather was attacked; one theory even linked the event to the KGB, the CIA and Soviet television broadcasts. Finally in 1997, the mystery of the "Kenneth" incident appeared to be solved. When the New York Daily News published a photo of William Tager, Rather identified him as his assailant. "There's no doubt in my mind that this is the person," Rather said. Tager is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for killing NBC stagehand Campbell Montgomery outside the Today show studio in 1994. Tager apparently was convinced that the news media was beaming signals into his head. He demanded that Rather tell him the frequency of the signals. As to why he referred to Rather as "Kenneth" remains a mystery.

"Courage"

For one week in September 1986, Rather signed off his broadcasts to CBS with the single word Courage. Apparently it was just a signature line and had nothing to do with the news at the time (which included the Joseph Cicippio abduction and a threat by Arab extremists to "become familiar with your skyscrapers and extend the terror campaign to the United States"). Other newscasters ridiculed and parodied him, and he dropped it. These days, Rather says "And that's part of our world."

Dead air

On September 11, 1987, Rather marched off the set of the CBS Evening News when a tennis match threatened to cut into his broadcast. The Graf-McNeil tennis match ended sooner than expected at 6:32 p.m., but Rather was nowhere to be found. Over 100 affiliates were left scrambling with an embarrassing six minutes of dead air. By the time Rather was found and placed before the camera, most of the audience had already tuned out. Much criticism was hurled in Rather's direction. Walter Cronkite told a reporter, "I would have fired him. There's no excuse for it." Rather issued a written statement later that week that stopped short of apologizing, apparently a large enough gesture to save his job.

"Ratherisms"

Wikiquote has quotations related to Dan Rather.

Rather is known for his many off-the-cuff colorful analogies and descriptions while filling the air during live broadcasts. Very similar to those used by baseball announcer Red Barber, these "Ratherisms" are also called "Texanisms" or "Danisms" by some. A few of the more colorful ones from the 2000 Election include: [4]

  • "This race is shakier than cafeteria Jello."
  • "He swept through the South like a tornado through a trailer park."
  • "Don't bet the trailer money on it yet."
  • "It's a ding dong battle back and forth."
  • "Look at that. Can't get a cigarette paper between'em."
  • "His chances are slim right now and if he doesn't carry Florida, slim will have left town."
  • "We said earlier in the evening at one point that Governor Bush would probably be as mad as a rained-on rooster."
  • "The polls have been veering and wobbling so much that neither NASA nor the Russian Cosmodrome could track 'em in some cases."
  • "If you're disgusted with us, frankly I don't blame ya."
  • "I think you would likelier see a hippopotamus run through this room than see George Bush appoint Ralph Nader to the Cabinet."
  • Referred to California as "the big burrito."

Pop culture figure

Though his popularity and ratings have declined, Rather's apparent affinity for the bizarre has made him into an ironic pop-culture icon. He has been lampooned numerous times by the television shows Saturday Night Live and Family Guy and many films. Besides the R.E.M. song mentioned above, Rather has also been the subject of a cut by the band Evolution Control Committee called "Rocked By Rape", in which lines from disastrous or tragic news reports are edited together to an old AC/DC riff. Juxtaposed with Rather's cheery signoff, the effect is chilling.

Newspapers and magazines are fond of compiling his expressions and many people enjoy tuning in to Rather's broadcasts in the hopes he'll say something amusing.

Further reading

  • News About The News, ISBN 0375714154. Contemporary history of American journalism. Candid interviews with Rather and many others.
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