Dan Rather
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Image:Danrather.jpg Daniel Irvin Rather, Jr. (born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist who was anchor of the CBS Evening News from March 9, 1981, until March 9, 2005.
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Biography
Early life
Rather was born in Wharton, Texas, the son of Daniel Irvin Rather Sr. and his wife, the former Byrl Veda Page. In 1953 he received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Sam Houston State Teachers College where he was editor of the school newspaper, The Houstonian.
Start of his career
Rather began his career in 1950 as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville, Texas. 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.
At CBS News
Rather—quite by accident, as described in his autobiography—was the first television journalist to report that President John F. Kennedy had died of wounds received from an assassin. He is also known by Kennedy researchers to have seen the Zapruder film taken by an eyewitness to the passing Dallas motorcade and incorrectly reported that JFK's head went "violently forward" when he was hit. In fact it went violently backwards.
Rather's reporting during the national mourning period following the Kennedy assassination and subsequent events brought him to the attention of CBS News management, which rewarded him in 1964 with the network's White House correspondent position. After serving as a foreign correspondent for CBS News, he drew the assignment as primary anchor for the CBS Sunday Night News, while serving as White House correspondent during the Richard Nixon presidency. His hard-punching coverage of the Watergate Investigation and Impeachment proceedings became legendary.
After President Nixon's resignation, Rather took the assignment of chief correspondent for CBS News Special Reports. He later became a correspondent of the long-running Sunday night news show 60 Minutes, just as the program was moved from a Sunday afternoon timeslot to primetime. Success there brought Rather in line to succeed Walter Cronkite as main anchor and Managing Editor of the CBS Evening News.
Rather assumed the position upon Cronkite's retirement, making his first broadcast on March 9, 1981. From the beginning of his tenure, it was clear that Rather had a significantly different style of reporting the news. In contrast to the avuncular Cronkite, who ended his newscast with "That's the way it is," Dan Rather searched to find a broadcast ending more suitable to his tastes. For one week during the mid-1980s, Rather had tried ending his broadcasts with the word "courage" and was roundly ridiculed for it. He eventually found a wrap-up phrase more modest than Cronkite's and more relaxed than his own previous attempts. For nearly two decades Rather ended the show with "That's part of our world tonight."
While Rather had inherited Cronkite's ratings lead and held it for a few years, his ratings declined as his network competition changed. Simultaneously, CBS went through an institutional crisis and ultimate purchase by Laurence Tisch.
When Rather took the helm at the CBS News anchor desk, the United States had only three commercial television networks: CBS, NBC and ABC. When he retired, the three commercial networks were in competition with many more news outlets, including FOX, CNN and the internet. These broadcast competitors have dampened the financial resources of the "Big Three" networks. 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. She had anchored short news updates for a number of years. Once joining the Evening News, however, she became embroiled in distracting and embarrassing attempts to hound "pop news" stories. One famous incident had her on an airplane interviewing Tonya Harding, accused of being behind the plot to injure fellow Olympic ice skater Nancy Kerrigan. The Rather-Chung duo was canceled, and Rather went back to doing the newscast alone.
At the end of Rather's career, the CBS Evening News had fallen to a distant last place in network viewership. Although still garnering some 7 million viewers each evening, the broadcast was behind NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight, and the networks were all losing influence to cable and the Internet news. Rather's departure from the anchor chair was troubling for CBS, as his journalistic credentials were questioned during the 2004 Presidential campaign between George W. Bush and John Kerry. Rather retired, possibly under pressure, as the anchor of the CBS evening news at 7:00 eastern time, 9 March 2005.
Other current notes
Rather is also a columnist whose work is distributed by King Features Syndicate.
His daughter, Robin, is an environmentalist and community activist in Austin, Texas.
Journalistic history and influence
Nixon
During the presidency of Richard Nixon, critics accused Rather of biased coverage. At a Houston, Texas, news conference in 1974, Nixon fielded a question from Rather, still CBS's White House correspondent, who said, "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; its news president met with administration official John Ehrlichman to discuss the situation. According to NBC’s Tom Brokaw, the network considered hiring him, Brokaw, as its White House correspondent to replace Rather. But these plans were scrapped after word was leaked to the press. The controversy did little to dent Rather's overall tough coverage of the Watergate scandal, which helped to raise his profile.
Afghanistan, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush
During the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, Rather was on camera wearing a traditional Mujahadeen headdress and garments while reporting from near the front lines. These reports were some of the first by Rather that helped him gain national prominence (and the nickname "Gunga Dan"; Rather's reports were also spoofed by the comic strip Doonesbury).
Later during the 1980s, Rather gained further renown to some for his forceful and skeptical reporting on the Iran-Contra Affair, which eventually led to an on-air confrontation with then-Vice President of the United States George H. W. Bush: Bush referred to Rather's "dead air incident" saying, "I want to talk about why I want to be President, why those 41 percent of the people are supporting me. And I don't think it's fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you like it if I judged your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in New York?"
This incident was 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 never recovered. Bush never forgave him, and refused to grant Rather an interview after that tangle. His son George W. Bush followed suit and never granted Rather an interview during his presidency.
Shortly after the Gulf War began, the newsman secured an interview with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, which, among other things, captured the flavor of Saddam's bravura toward the U.S. [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
- "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."
On February 24, 2003, Rather conducted another Saddam interview before the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. In the interview, Saddam invited Rather to be the moderator for a live television debate between Saddam and George W. Bush. The debate never took place.
The Wall Within
On June 2, 1988, Rather hosted a CBS News special, The Wall Within. In it, he interviewed six former servicemen, each of whom said he had witnessed horrible acts in Vietnam. Two of them said that they had killed civilians, and two others said that they had seen friends die. Each talked about the effects the war had upon their lives — including mental depression, unemployment, drug use and homelessness.
In their book Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History, authors B. G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley said they had obtained the service records of all six men, documenting where each was stationed during the Vietnam War. According to the records, the authors said, only one of the men was actually in Vietnam; he claimed to have been a 16-year-old Navy SEAL but, said Burkett and Whitley, the records listed him as an equipment repairer.
The Killian documents
On September 8, 2004, Rather reported on 60 Minutes Wednesday that a series of documents concerning President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard service record had been discovered in the personal files of Lt. Bush's former commanding officer, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, in which Bush was found unfit for flight status after failing to obey an order to submit to a physical examination. The authenticity of these documents was quickly called into question by conservative bloggers; by September 10, stories in media outlets including the Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Chicago Sun-Times examined the documents' authenticity. Rather and CBS vigorously defended the story, insisting that the documents had been authenticated by experts. However, CBS was contradicted by some of the experts it originally cited, and later reported that their source for the documents, former Texas Army National Guard officer Bill Burkett, had misled the network about how he had obtained them. On September 20, CBS retracted the story. Rather stated, "if I knew then what I know now – I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question," [2] The controversy has been dubbed by some as "Memogate" and "Rathergate." Following an independent investigation commissioned by CBS, CBS fired story producer Mary Mapes and asked three other producers connected with the story to resign. It is unclear whether or not Rather's retirement was directly caused by this incident, although many believe that he had to step down a year earlier than planned.
Retirement from the Evening News
Image:DanRathersFinalBoardcastMpegMan.jpg Rather retired as the anchorman and Managing Editor of the CBS Evening News in 2005. His last broadcast was Wednesday, March 9, 2005. He worked as the anchorman for 24 full years, the longest tenure of anyone in American television history—only Lloyd Robertson of Canada and Brian Henderson of Australia have served longer. He will continue working as a correspondent for 60 Minutes. Bob Schieffer, a fellow Texan and host of Face the Nation, took over Rather's position on an interim basis, and Katie Couric will replace Schieffer in September 2006.
Rather is still a reporter for 60 Minutes. Since retiring, he has been on a speaking tour across the United States. On January 24, 2006, Rather spoke to a Seattle audience. Before the speaking engagement, he told a newspaper reporter, "In many ways on many days, [reporters] have sort of adopted the attitude of 'go along, get along.'"
"What many of us need is a spine transplant," Rather added. "Whether it's City Hall, the State House, or the White House, part of our job is to speak truth to power." [3]
Awards
Rather is one of the most awarded figures within the journalism community. He has received numerous Emmys, several Peabody awards, and various honorary degrees from universities.
Criticisms of Rather
As one of the last broadcast news journalists from the era of the "Big Three" network news primacy, Rather was highly regarded within his profession by many long-serving journalists. However, there are other journalists who have since entered broadcasting who express dislike for Rather's methods, views, and on-air delivery. Some argue that Rather is too "folksy" or "old-fashioned."
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 Washington Rock Creek Park about two miles from The White House. Levy disappeared while having an affair with U.S. Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.). Because of the congressman's intimate association with her, he was a suspect in her disappearance. During most of the search for Levy, Rather refused to run any stories about the case and routinely condemned his colleagues off the air for giving airtime to the search for her.
Shortly thereafter in 2002, the American press began focusing on kidnappings (especially of children like Elizabeth Smart). This time, Rather followed suit in reporting the story. His defenders interpreted the move as an indication that Rather's authority within CBS News had declined, and that he was unable to insist on a more traditionalist approach. His critics interpreted this as his partisanship for refusing to report the Levy story.
During the weeks following the Killian documents described above, Rather recieved widespread criticism from other journalists and historians for his approach on reporting and confirmation of the documents' authenticity.
During a March 7, 2005 appearance on CNN, former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite said about Rather: "It surprised quite a few people at CBS and elsewhere that, without being able to pull up the ratings beyond third in a three-man field, that they tolerated his being there for so long." Another rationale, however, was that the lead-in from the local news stations in a few markets contributed to the lower ratings for Rather's program. Cronkite also stated that Bob Schieffer's succession was long overdue. For his part, Rather said he would not respond to Cronkite's "mudslinging". Back in 1981, Cronkite had vehemently denied he had been forced out by Rather's rising star, but his comments on CNN led many to believe that that had been the case.
Conservatives dating back to Richard Nixon have complained for years that Rather's reporting reflected a liberal bias. While Rather himself stated repeatedly that he was moderate, his long-time co-worker Andy Rooney stated that Rather was "transparently liberal" during an episode of 60 Minutes.Template:Fact
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?," while a second assailant also chased and beat him. 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 incident and Rather's account led some to doubt the veracity of Rather's story, although the doorman and building supervisor who rescued Rather fully confirmed his version of events. 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 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 was a good sport about it, and actually sang with the band when they performed the song on the David Letterman show.
In 1997, a TV critic writing in the New York Daily News claimed to have solved the mystery, and published a photo of the alleged assailant, William Tager. Rather confirmed the story: "There's no doubt in my mind that this is the person." Tager is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for killing NBC stagehand Campbell Montgomery outside The Today Show studio in 1994.
According to the theory, Tager, who is apparently mentally disturbed, was convinced that the news media was beaming signals into his head. It is further alleged, that he demanded that Rather tell him the frequency of the signals. Why he would refer to Rather as "Kenneth" remains a mystery although some have speculated that Tager, being Jewish, was actually saying "Goniff, what is the frequency?" (Goniff being Yiddish for a thief or dishonest person).
In the December 2001 issue of Harper's Magazine, writer Paul Limbert Allman concluded that Prof. Donald Barthelme (who died in 1989) had somehow orchestrated the attack through other unnamed persons, citing unusual passages in Barthelme's writing, including the phrase "What is the frequency?", a recurring character named Kenneth, and short story about a pompous editor named Lather. [4]
"Courage"
For one week in September 1986 [5], 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. Afterwards, Rather said "And that's part of our world." On his last broadcast, March 9, 2005, he once again signed off with courage, this time linking it to the September 11, 2001 attacks as well as courage shown by fellow journalists.
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 then 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. There was considerable criticism of Rather. 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, but was apparently sufficient to save his job.
The then US Vice-President George H.W. Bush referred to the incident in an interview with Rather during the 1988 US Presidential Campaign saying, "I want to talk about why I want to be president, why those 41 percent of the people are supporting me. And I don't think it's fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you like it if I judged your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in New York?"
AIDS activists
On January 22, 1991, and unknown to Rather until just after the evening newscast began to air, three AIDS activists stormed the CBS newsroom, repeatedly shouting, "fight AIDS, not Arabs...fight AIDS, not Arabs...", just as the opening credits rolled. One of the activists was actually seen on the air. In embarrassment, Rather ordered producers to "break for a commercial", after which he apologized for the activists' actions (they were later arrested by CBS security).
"Ratherisms"
Template:Wikiquote 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: [6]
- "This race is shakier than cafeteria Jell-O."
- Referred to the race as "spandex-tight."
- "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."
- "If a frog had pockets, he'd carry a handgun!"
- "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 declined over the years, 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. Samples of Rather's newscasts were used to create "Rocked By Rape," a single by the Evolution Control Committee which was subsequently banned by CBS; the song combined some of Rather's more dramatic headlines ("Gunned down / shooting death / blood drops / murderer") with a heavily edited recording of AC/DC's Back in Black. He also had a cameo appearance in the JibJab political cartoon, Good to Be in D.C..
Newspapers and magazines are fond of compiling his expressions, and many people enjoyed tuning in to Rather's broadcasts in the hopes he'd say something amusing.
Illegal Drugs
In a July 1980 interview with Ladies' Home Journal, Rather said that "in 1955 or '56, I had someone at the Houston police station shoot me with heroin so I could do a story about it. The experience was a special kind of hell. I came out understanding full well how one could be addicted to 'smack,' and quickly."
According to journalist Cliff Jahr, Rather said, "As a reporter - and I don't want to say that that's the only context - I've tried everything. I can say to you with confidence, I know a fair amount about LSD. I've never been a social user of any of these things, but my curiosity has carried me into a lot of interesting areas."
Ratings
In their last year of broadcasting, Tom Brokaw and his NBC Nightly News were ranked #1, Peter Jennings and World News Tonight were second, Dan Rather and the CBS Evening News were third. Rather was #1 in the early and mid 80's, Jennings was #1 in the late 80's, and Brokaw took over as America's most-watched anchor in the 90's and kept the spot until his retirement in 2004. Brian Williams has since kept Nightly News as the most-watched broadcast or cable news program in the United States.
Further reading
- News About The News, ISBN 0375714154. Contemporary history of American journalism. Candid interviews with Rather and many others.
- 2nd Saddam interview
External links
- CBS biography of Rather
- {{{2|{{{name|Dan Rather}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Timeline from Rotten.com
- RatherBiased.com, chronicling alleged liberal bias (site suspended, using web archive)
- RatherGate.com chronicles the Killian memos controversy
- "Dan Rather Video Bias Contrasts" - Media Research Center
- "Courage, Dan, things can't get any worse … or, can they?", Gary Dretzka, TV Barn, July 22, 2003.
- "It's running of the bull", Michael Goodwin, New York Post, 9 March 2005
- "Wrong from the Beginning", Phillip Chalk, Weekly Standard, March 14, 2005.
- "Ratherisms" from Election 2000
- More quotes from Election 2000
- "Rocked By Rape", a spliced mix of Rather's quotes as a song, produced by The Evolution Control Committee
"Kenneth, what is the frequency?"
- Real People in REM Songs Includes a reference to Kenneth B. Schaffer and tells his story.
- "Dan Rather is the sphinx of our time, and his riddle is 'Kenneth, what is the frequency?'", Paul Limbert Allman, Harper's Magazine 2001
- Now Rather Knows "the Frequency" by Marcus Errico, E! Online News, 29 January 1997
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