Dan Rather: "Every Other Person Has Taken The Money For Silence"

[DeepModem Mom]

TV Newser: Rather: "Every Other Person Has Taken The Money For Silence"


(John P. Filo/CBS/Getty Images)

New York magazine's Joe Hagan writes at length (5,700 words worth) about Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS. Hagan, who also wrote about Rather's successor Katie Couric for a cover story in July, conjures up a likely "catalyst" for Rather's suit: former producer Mary Mapes' book defending the Bush/National Guard story. Hagan writes:

What was in the book wasn't surprising to Rather. What was surprising was that after its publication, Mapes hired a high-powered Houston lawyer named Mark Lanier to draw up a lawsuit against CBS, and CBS responded with a settlement before she had even filed it. What was in the suit that Mapes hadn't included in her book? What would make CBS so eager to settle? The settlement required that Mapes sign a confidentiality agreement, and she couldn't talk about it, even to Rather. Her settlement made Rather feel like he was the last of the Guard-story veterans left standing. The three other CBS staffers dismissed in 2005 had already settled as well — Josh Howard for $3 million. "Every other person has taken the money for silence," says Rather. He thought of himself as the only one who could still uncover the truth.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ (Scroll down.)

Link to New York Magazine, "Dan Rather's Last Big Story Is Himself": http://nymag.com/news/features/41283/

[stellanoir]

1. The silence of dissent has truly been deafening for years.

thanks DMM.

You are the best.

I always rec your threads like I do a lot of others, even though I don't often respond.

Really truly value your contributions.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Hi, Stella! You, in fact, are the best!

:hi:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

3. Greed and hypocrisy -- the new wellspring of democracy in Amurika

Tell 'em Dan... God help us for the fascist culture that has been cultivated here.

K&R

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. Money always speaks to people. Mapes selling out REALLY sucks though!

Surely she was paid well at CBS? Why the hell would she take that money?(*&^%$# Greed, greed, greed.....it makes me sick.

[mod mom]

5. How does she live with herself? Disgraceful.

[Auntie Bush]

27. She lives very well in a disgraceful Mc Mansion.

Every time she looks at her new goodies...the little pangs of guilt quickly disappear as she drives off in her brand new luxury car.

[MrCoffee]

6. maybe she didn't have a case

Rather doesn't have a strong case either. He seems to be trying to vindicate himself in the course of a fairly banal contract dispute.

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. Bullshit. Millions of dollars is hard to pass up when you're suddenly unemployed, as she was.

We shall see if Rather has a case or not. It seems as though he's the last of the ETHICAL journalists left in the business. He can't be bought, so we'll see what kind of case he has. :(

[Garbo 2004]

11. If she didn't have something it would seem unlikely that CBS would settle before suit was filed.

They could have just let the court throw it out. At the least there may have been some dirty laundry CBS didn't want aired in an actual court filing.

[SpiralHawk]

24. MegaBullshit: Bush was AWOL, la shameful republicon chickenhawk Deserter

Anyone who has looked into it knows he is the most shameful excuse for a Commander in Chief ever to lie our troops into a phony Nation Building Oil-Profits Crusade.

[Auntie Bush]

28. I'd say you are right on the money.

[Raster]

38. Right....that's why they paid her off....she didn't have a case....

...makes perfect sense to me.:sarcasm: I'm joining the BULLSHIT patrol on this one!

[hvn_nbr_2]

8. I thought the heading meant every other "journalist"...

has taken the million-dollar salary to shut up and read stories about runaway brides.

[Cha]

33. That's what I

thought, also..but, on reading I see where Rather was being specific to his case. We were right, too, only it's more than every other person..more like there's a couple who haven't. KO and ..there's gotta be someone outside of Comedy Central!

[WinkyDink]

9. Money trumps...more than peace.

[The Stranger]

10. Get the court to order the settlement produced.

It doesn't have to honor their "confidentiality agreement," especially if it is intended to perpetrate a crime or fraud, and it can even review it in camera (without public disclosure) to see for itself what is in there.

[w4rma]

12. True, but that nullifies both sides of the contract and the side getting the $ doesn't get paid.(nt)

[TahitiNut]

16. I don't know about that. I think the court can say something about it.

I doubt an illegal codicil is binding and I think a court could rule it severable, independent of the terms. Her "good faith compliance" might be ruled adequate consideration. The settlement agreements I've seen are written more artfully than to baldly attempt to assert nullification when disclosure is in compliance to a judge's ruling regarding testimony. The requirement there, as I've seen it, is "prompt notification" of Chief Counsel in the event such testimonial disclosure is required. Meeting that condition would be sufficient, imho, to preclude return of funds. The company gets to deploy their own legal representatives to fight the disclosure.

[mile18blister]

13. I wouldn't be surprised if she was offered an alternative to the money.

Like committing suicide with several shots to the back of the head.

:hide:

[jimlup]

15. I'd agree

There is something very wrotten indeed at the head of our government.

[ClayZ]

19. ...and it stinks clear around the world.

[femrap]

39. And I wonder about

how safe Rather is....I hope he nails this administration with The Truth. As *'s 'popularity' falls to new depths, we may see lots more folks coming out with The Truth.

[bjobotts]

14. We all know Rather's story is true. By the time it is proven it won't matter to Bush

After the fact...after the damage has been done...like finding out Gore and Kerry actually beat him in the general elections after it's too late to do anything about it, Bush will be sipping pina coladas by the time Rather proves Bush was AWOL. He literally has gotten away with murder...mass murder and CBS like most of the CIA controlled media helped him do it.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

32. That's how America works

the whole government system and media needs to be cleansed or even sterilized!!!! I'm also wondering about our judicial system too?

[Cha]

34. That all sounds logical but

there's always history to deal with and sometimes after the fact can matter even more. The challenged one will go down through the ages as the loser who raped our country and was responsible for murdering hundreds of thousands and maiming untold numbers to raise his poll numbers and help his bosses secure more oil in their quest for World Domination.

All the bushits' little laprats have gone down in disgrace and now it's way past time for the US to change course with a real leader..not some business as usual dino.

[defendandprotect]

17. Above the very obvious Bush=-Cheney-govt lies, we have media cooperation with those lies . . . this

is an extreme example of the media protecting those lies, even to its own detriment ---

banking on greater rewards from corrupt leadeers ---

This is the establishment protecting itself, as it destroys itself.

Of course, unregulated capitalism will destroy itself ---

[The Wizard]

29. You're onto something here.

Melville discussed it as a metaphor in Moby Dick where the sharks in a feeding frenzy wind up eating themselves. Marx said capitalism would destroy itself, especially predatory capitalism as practiced by today's neocons. Both Melville and Marx captured the Zeitgeist of the 1850s when the robber barons were putting themselves in a position to usurp the powers reserved for government. They saw totalitarian fascism developing and wrote about it.
Any system without checks an balances, left to its own devices, becomes totalitarian and eventually destroys itself.
The complicit and compliant corporate media is unwittingly writing its own epitaph. Covering up for criminals is a dead end, as Richard Nixon could well testify.
Long live Dan Rather.

[Cha]

35. "Banking on greater

rewards from corrupt leaders". Nutshell meet our US corporatemediawhores.

At least we still have the internet..which is precisely why I wanted to get a computer and did in 2002! Think how far the m$$$$m would be shoving it down throats without us.

I like this part, too.. "This is the establishment protecting itself, as it destroys itself.

Of course, unregulated capitalism will destroy itself ---"

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. A dysnfunctional press is also a symbol of the rise of a closed society

But, but, we don't have tanks in the streets I am told

So what?

[defendandprotect]

41. Yeah . . . not yet . . . but as much as the current upheaval and destruction is about OIL . . .

IMO, it's even more so about Global Warming ---
THEY know it and they are assuring that they will remain in control and on the top of the heap
until the last --

Responding to Global Warming as it should have been done would have ended OIL three or four decades ago ---

If we don't dismantle this power --- and nationalize our natural resources removing control from the hands of a few private families --- we will all soon be Katrina victims, waiting for assistance while only police enforcement is provided.

The latest on this . . .

UN: WORLD HAS LESS THAN 10 YEARS
TO AVOID CLIMATE CATASTROPHE

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-11-27T145632Z_01_N19489506_RTRUKOC_0_US-UN-DEVELOPMENT-CLIMATE.xml


We need ELECTRIC CARS on our highways replacing GAS-guzzlers ---
We can replace them all within 5 years --- subsidize mfg and purchase.

[L0oniX]

20. Proof that CBS NBC ABC FOX CNN MSM are our enemies

[Echo In Light]

22. Bingo! And the "liberal" media is a strategic myth, and conspiracies DO exist!

Who-da thunk it?

[Cha]

36. I, for one, don't

need anymore stinkin' proof after 7 years of this shite! :grr:

[rockybelt]

21. What is that smell? n/t

[progressoid]

23. God I hope this works for him.

And for us. The system could use a little cleansing.

[1932]

25. The $ CBS pays to settle these cases should be considered an illegal campaign contribution to Bush

CBS fired these people only to protect Bush.

[elizfeelinggreat]

30. good point

It would hit them where it hurt$ them and threaten them with the loss of their power.

If the republican majorities believed the media was truly biased when they started that stupid talking point they would have pushed laws to stop media's involvement in the political arena, instead they used another lie to their advantage and this is the result. Now we take it for granted that we can't believe what we hear and see on the news. Mission accomplished ...

[deutsey]

26. Judases, every one of them.

Everything has a price tag, even a person's conscience. :evilfrown:

[bluesmail]

31. Legal Blackmail

works all the time

[riverdeep]

37. I'm not defending the ones who took the money, but...

It's important to look at the choice they faced. Chances were, they would never work in their chosen profession again. All the 'credible' news sources at the time were saying this story was bad journalism. Also, a few million might not be so much after legal fees. So, reject the money and face bankruptcy, humiliation, and dismissal with the off chance that you could wind up disclosing something big (that the MSM would ignore anyway, look at any number of stories for an example, the revelation by McClellan as just the latest) or take the money and have some hope of a life.

Doing the right thing isn't easy, that's why it's so admired. I'm not so sure it was 'greed' here as much as survival. It's easy to admonish, but when you do the right thing and ask these same people for help on the rent, suddenly you realize you're on your own.

[defendandprotect]

42. Agree . . . presumably Rather is able to better withstand the career/$ harm done to them all ---

[Supersedeas]

40. stories the media will never tell

[Time for change]

43. I'll bet what they had to say was truly explosive

Kudos for Dan Rather for refusing to remain silent :applause:

[Jim__]

44. CBS will do their damndest to bribe Rather too.

And, they can probably get Fed help (dirt on Rather) to do it.

[Divine Discontent]

45. "they" did their best to make him appear untrustable

after he left, and honestly, I'm surprised he's permitted to speak about this. you know how evil they are. I'm very thankful he's out there talking about this issue, and the voting scandal.

[Generator]

46. Wow and this on a day

When I have to fucking read that BILL CLINTON claims he was against the Iraq war before he was for it. Or something. And Rove is putting the onus on congress for starting it instead of Bush. Maybe it WAS ME that started the war? I'm not sure. This country is in a matrix of false reality. There is a reason I'd rather watch shit on T.V and drink. There is no reality left.