TV Newser: Dan Rather Has Seen "Good Night, & Good Luck" 5 Times

[DeepModem Mom]

TV Newser: Rather Has Seen "Good Night, & Good Luck" In The Theater -- Five Times

Dan Rather is sad. When he met up with Jacques Steinberg at an Upper East Side diner, his swagger had been replaced by "an obvious sadness that his tenure at the network was ticking down to an inglorious end."

"Among the places he had sought solace, he said on a recent afternoon, was in 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' George Clooney's homage to Edward R. Murrow and the CBS News of old, a film that Mr. Rather said he had seen five times in theaters, most recently alone."

Remember Les Moonves' dream of blowing up the "voice of God" format? "My problem with the 'voice of God' thing was that it was meant disrespectfully," Rather said.

"They talk about wanting a break with the past," he added. "Look at the Murrow film. I don't want to break with that past."

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cbs/rather_has_seen_good_night_good_luck_in_the_theater_five_times_38657.asp

[Minnesota Libra]

1. We don't have any reporters of that caliber left anymore nt

[yngliberal]

2. There's a new breed of true journalists coming up...

That's what I've heard. Many of today's journalism students may not be as great as Murrow but these kids are definitely not afraid to track down good stories and ask hard questions. At least that's what I intend to do.

[salin]

3. But will anyone pay them to do so?

If corporate media doesn't hire these up and comers - will this new breed matter?

[Minnesota Libra]

5. I wish you luck but considering the present state of our...............

....media I'll believe a truth driven media when I see it.

Keep in mind that tracking down the truth is one thing being able to get it out to the public using a neocon controlled media is another matter entirely.


:bounce: I hope you don't run into that issue though and by all means make us proud.:applause:

[DeepModem Mom]

10. I have great hope for your generation, yngliberal. I think you can do it!

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. There are plenty of indy news outlets if Dan wants to keep working

[Cha]

7. Yes, did you see this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1445206

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Rather would certainly find a market for his stories

if he decided to really tell the truth about everything he knows.

[yngliberal]

11. Too late about the Mark Cuban story....n/t

[Cha]

6. Good Luck, les moonves..

with the future and that whole katie thing..ya putz.

[lildreamer316]

8. To Dan Rather:

I like you. I've always liked you; even when you seemed to be leaning in a direction I didn't like. I grew up with you and Cronkite on a nightly basis. I read your autobiography in the 80s. You reported the news, but yes, you still let ME decide. Really. You are part of the reason I know to question the status quo.
In later years; if I may draw many observations together; it seems that your yearning for days of yore, and your need for CBS to be the way it was; lead you to allow executives and company policy to override your innate sense of what was true and right. I saw something I see in many of your generation and the one before--an unwillingness to realize that what you thought to be the Grand Old Party was not that anymore; it had become a different animal. I don't blame you for that; those days were heady and hard to forget. I wish you had paid more attention to your friend and sometime mentor; Walter Cronkite--he has certainly been able to discern the difference.
I still see in you, (especially poignant in this report^^) a desire to cling to the idea of CBS. What you are cleaving to is an idea that is no more. As painful as that may be; please-revive yourself; and realize that your loyalty is not deserved by this once-great corporation. The death knell to your idealism was the demise of the Fairness Doctrine in the late 1980s. You are a reporter of integrity. Those don't exist anymore, not much anyway. I am sorry for what is no more; but I think you'll agree that in the present political climate; there is no time to mourn. This is the time to look to the future.
You are a great man and a superb reporter; faithful to everything that word encompasses. I challenge you, I beg you, to take your volume of experience and knowledge, and lead the true students of journalism into the future. There is a need for someone of your strength, power and integrity, and the need has never been greater. You are uniquely positioned to take on this challenge. What you think stained your reputation has only enhanced it in the eyes of the people who will make the future.
Come join us---we need you. The people who you spoke to night after night--we need you. Seize this opportunity and lead. I think you'll be surprised at how many will follow.

[Garbo 2004]

12. Broadcasting & Cable mag column on Rather's shove out the door,

an excerpt:

I've seen other journalists get burned by ill-conceived stories that never should have made it to air, and they still enjoy the support of their networks. ABC suspended John Stossel over his specious report on organic food, then welcomed him back. Hell, CBS even stood by Mike Wallace after his 1982 report on General William Westmoreland blew up into a lawsuit.

But no such luck for Rather, 74, who told me that he'd really “hoped to stay at CBS News and continue to make a meaningful contribution.”

The line from the CBS executives, who attempted to get in front of Rather's firing with a calculated leak to the Washington Post last week, is that there's simply no room for him at 60 Minutes, what with Katie Couric, CNN's Anderson Cooper and CBS News lead foreign correspondent Lara Logan expected to contribute alongside veterans Ed Bradley, Lesley Stahl and Bob Simon.

Yeah, sure. If they wanted Rather aboard, they'd make room for him. The guy is as good as, if not better than, anyone still welcome at the 60 Minutes party.

Full article at: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6344825.html?display=Max+Robins&referral=SUPP