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| Dan Rather's Carry-On Baggage |
| 2006-07-12 |
| Former CBS newsman Dan Rather says he'll have complete editorial control over the content of the weekly newsmagazine he will kick off for Mark Cuban's HDNet in October. "News at its best is a wake-up call, not a lullaby, and I'm not in the lullaby business," Rather told reporters Tuesday at Summer TV Press Tour 2006. Three weeks after being shown the door by the broadcast network's news division, Rather appeared before TV critics here to discuss details of his new three-year pact with billionaire Cuban. Rather, 74, said he was relieved to be moving from news "defined by the economics of the corporation presenting the news" to "independent journalism." The longtime anchor, who left CBS News last month after he and management could not agree on his future role there, said that "nothing I say here is designed to be critical of CBS." Then he came out swinging. "CBS is a large organization . . . with a chain of command that looks like the wiring of a nuclear plant. . . . The difference [at HDNet] is that the chain of command begins and ends with me. With 'Dan Rather Reports' I have creative and editorial control." When he left CBS, Rather already had relinquished his anchor chair at "CBS Evening News" and was reporting for "60 Minutes"; his final year had been marked by controversy over the network's discredited story on President Bush's National Guard tenure. Rather acknowledged he comes to HDNet with "baggage." "Yes, I have baggage -- I have the baggage of being a graduate of the journalism school of South Vietnam," he said. He also acknowledged he was "biased -- I have a very strong bias toward independent journalism." "Some of what you describe as 'baggage,' " he told one critic, "comes from people who have the following view: Their view is, 'You report the news the way I want it reported or I'm going to make you pay a price and hang a sign around your neck saying you're a bomb-toting Bolshevik or something.' " Dallas Mavericks owner Cuban, who sat nodding during most of Rather's comments and even applauded him once, has his own equally colorful reputation as a rabble-rouser; he's been fined for bad behavior courtside during games. This, he suggested, makes him the perfect employer for Rather. "I've been painted into so many corners, I'm out of corners," Cuban told the critics. "I'm not concerned at all because the work will speak for itself." He said he'd already been inundated with e-mail from Rather detractors and assumed they were pretty worn out by now. Cuban said he was thrilled to have Rather on board: "Now that he is finally released from the ratings-driven and limited-depth confines of broadcast television, I am excited about the impact Dan can have on the future of news." Rather choked up several times during the more than hour-long Q&A session, when talking about his legacy and specifically about his role model, Edward R. Murrow. He declined to comment on a report in the Hollywood Reporter that he's in discussions with American Online about doing work for its Internet news service, other than to say he was interested in other opportunities. However, he said, that his first, second and third priority is HDNet, which is available in about 3 million homes. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #18 "I have the baggage of being a graduate of the journalism school of South Vietnam" Ah yes. The one with the North Vietnamese professors and Soviet "custodial staff". |
| Posted by: Fordesque 2006-07-12 21:40 |
| #17 Cuban was one of the few who got rich on the DotCom bubble. I know people who got rich in the dotcom bubble and then lost a bucketful of money afterwards when they had to actually earn money from their dotcoms. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-07-12 18:05 |
| #16 Now, it's "What the frequency, Mark" |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-07-12 17:29 |
| #15 He wasn't talking about you 3LYD, he thinks you're as cute as a June Bug on a Ferris Wheel. |
| Posted by: Dan Rather 2006-07-12 14:30 |
| #14 Always comes back to that don't it? Like a 3-legged yellow dawg limping back to the pig carcasss under the trailer steps. ya don't hafta be nasty 'bout it!! |
| Posted by: 3 legged yeller dawg 2006-07-12 13:16 |
| #13 And two millions of Cambodians. I dream of a Nuremberg of the most prominent anti-Vietnam-War activists. And have Jane Fonda swing on a rope. |
| Posted by: JFM 2006-07-12 11:58 |
| #12 Dan has baggage from Vietnam? Yes... I guess half a million dead Vietmanese killed in 'reeducation camps' would be a bit of baggage for anyone in the MSM... Cronkite has baggage too.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-07-12 11:02 |
| #11 #5 Cuban: another idiot who doesn't understand the economics of the new media. Posted by phil_b 2006-07-12 07:39 And an idiot whose on court antics distracted his NBA team during the NBA Finals. I'm so glad the Miami Heat kicked his ass! |
| Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden 2006-07-12 09:52 |
| #10 yawn. What are they calling the show? DAN RATHER'S INFOMERCIAL TO PROMOTE FAILED 20TH CENTURY IDEALS? I wonder whose informercial will get better ratings? The preacher with the bad toupee who will pray for you if you send money; the ladies selling skin cream that will instanty make you thin, beautiful, and wrinkle free; or Dan. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-12 09:32 |
| #9 "I have the baggage of being a graduate of the journalism school of South Vietnam," How very Kerry-esque. Will we be hearing this in every interview from now on? "I have a very strong bias toward independent journalism." Tough talk from one of the liberal media's long-time corporate pawns. Personally, I don't count slanderous reports based on forged documents to be journalism, but that's just me. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-07-12 09:16 |
| #8 I'm sure that time he was in Vietnam is seared.....seared into his mind. |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-07-12 08:36 |
| #7 Cuban was one of the few who got rich on the DotCom bubble. He understands enough to hype, sell stock, buy a basketball team. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-07-12 08:11 |
| #6 Leave me out of it, willya kid? Gotta match? |
| Posted by: The Ghost of Edward R. Murrow 2006-07-12 07:51 |
| #5 Cuban: another idiot who doesn't understand the economics of the new media. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-07-12 07:39 |
| #4 HDNet, which is available in about 3 million homes. By any count 3 million is such a tiny market that it looks like they hired him just for the splash, not any real content. He is done and HDNet is just using him to get circulation. Pathetic. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-07-12 07:28 |
| #3 I didn't think my opinion of Dan could get any lower. Then ... Yes, I have baggage -- I have the baggage of being a graduate of the journalism school of South Vietnam," he said. Now it's all so clear! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-07-12 06:55 |
| #2 Yes, I have baggage -- I have the baggage of being a graduate of the journalism school of South Vietnam," he said. Always comes back to that don't it? Like a 3-legged yellow dawg limping back to the pig carcasss under the trailer steps. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-07-12 06:52 |
| #1 Dan Rather's "baggage" is more like a 40-foot steel container with hazmat placards. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-07-12 06:47 |