Television news presenter and writer, born in Wharton Texas, USA. Educated at Sam Houston State Teachers College, he became a television journalist for CBS in Dallas, then White House correspondent and London bureau chief (196374), becoming nationally known for his reports on such major events as the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, and the Watergate affair. His national profile grew when he became co-editor of 60 Minutes (197581), and he went on to become anchor of CBS Evening News (19812005). He has been involved in many other TV specials, and has written several books on television journalism.
| Dan Rather | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 31, 1931 Wharton, Texas |
Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (born October 31, 1931 in Wharton, Texas) is the former longtime anchor for the CBS Evening News and is now under contract and scheduled to serve as managing editor and anchor of a new television newsmagazine, Dan Rather Reports, on the new cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9, 1981 to March 9, 2005. On June 20, 2006, CBS News announced Rather was leaving the network.
Biography
Early life
Rather was born in Wharton, Texas, the son of Daniel Irvin Rather Sr.
Start of his career
Rather began his career in 1950 as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville, Texas. 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.
At CBS News
The newsman has been the subject of controversy sporadically throughout his career.
While covering the assassination of U.S. President John F.
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.
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.
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 established commercial television networks: CBS, NBC and ABC, and CNN had begun operations less than a year before. When he retired, the three commercial networks were in competition with many more news outlets, including FOX, CNN, MSNBC, various PBS nightly news programs, and the Internet. 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. 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. However, Rather also shared a common biographical feature with the light-weight, warm-hearted anchorman portrayed by William Hurt: Rather began his news career in sports.
For a short time from 1993 to 1995, Rather co-anchored the evening news with Connie Chung. Chung had previously been a Washington correspondent for CBS News, and had anchored short news updates for CBS News on the west coast, where she was a popular Los Angeles local newsanchor for a number of years, before becoming weekend anchor of The NBC Nightly News. Once joining the CBS Evening News, however, she took on attempts to find "pop news" stories that didn't fit the style of the broadcast. Chung was offered a demotion to weekend anchor or morning news anchor and chose to leave the network, 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, in which the CBS Evening News ran an allegedly false report about Bush's military record. Rather retired, possibly under pressure, as the anchor of the CBS Evening News at 7:00 eastern time, 9 March 2005.
Other current notes
In 2006, Dan Rather donated $2 million to his alma mater, Sam Houston State University, the largest single monetary gift in the school's 127-year history.
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 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.
CBS apparently considered firing Rather; its news president met with administration official John Ehrlichman to discuss the situation.
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 helped Rather gain prominence with the Evening News audience (and the nickname "Gunga Dan"; Rather's energy and spirit helped him out-compete Roger Mudd for the anchor spot on the Evening News. Mudd was a more senior correspondent and a frequent substitute anchor for Walter Cronkite on the Evening News, and he also anchored the Sunday evening broadcast. But it was Rather who traveled through Afghanistan when the news led there.
Later during the 1980s, Rather gained further renown 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. 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.
Shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait, the newsman secured an interview with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, which, among other things, captured the flavor of Saddam's bravado concerning the U.S.
"There is no powerful and quick strike that a people could deliver, whatever their overall power. Saddam Hussein in interview with Dan Rather, Aug 29, 1990On February 24, 2003, Rather conducted another Saddam interview before the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
The Wall Within
On June 2, 1988, Rather hosted a CBS News special, The Wall Within.
In their book Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History, authors B.
Killian documents
On September 8, 2004, Rather reported on 60 Minutes Wednesday that a series of documents concerning President George W. 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." Following an independent investigation commissioned by CBS, CBS fired story producer Mary Mapes and asked three other producers connected with the story to resign.
Rather continues to stand by the story, and in subsequent interviews has articulated that he believes that because the documents have never conclusively been proven to be forgeries, that both the documents and underlying story are true.
Retirement from the Evening News
|
Thank you to the thousands of wonderful professionals at CBS News, past and present, with whom it's been my honor to work over these years.
Not long after I first came to the anchor chair, I briefly signed off using the word, 'Courage.' I want to return to it now, in a different way: to a nation still nursing a broken heart for what happened here in 2001, and especially to those who found themselves closest to the events of September 11; For The CBS Evening News. |
— Dan Rather's speech at the end of his farewell newscast |
Rather retired as the anchorman and Managing Editor of the CBS Evening News in 2005;
Since retiring, he has been on a speaking tour across the United States. 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.
Retirement from CBS News
In June 2006, reports surfaced that CBS News would most likely not renew Rather's contract. According to a Washington Post article, sources from CBS said that executives at the network decided "there is no future role for Rather".
On June 20, 2006, CBS News president Sean McManus announced that Rather would be leaving the network after 44 years. Rather issued a separate statement which accompanied the news of the departure:
| I leave CBS News with tremendous memories. My departure before the term of my contract represents CBS's final acknowledgement, after a protracted struggle, that they had not lived up to their obligation to allow me to do substantive work there. |
Rather has since resumed his career with HDNet, a high-definition cable television station as a producer and is scheduled to host a weekly one-hour show called "Dan Rather Reports" beginning October 24, 2006.
He has also formed an independent company called News and Guts Media and is reportedly working on a book.
Awards
Rather is one of the most awarded figures within the journalism community.
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.
Liberal bias
Rather has been accused of having a liberal bias for a great part of his career. Critics claim Rather has a double standard on how and which news stories to report, the Killian documents being the most famous example of this. They also claim many of his interviews of public officials reflect a liberal bias, either being overly harsh (when interviewing a conservative) or "soft-ball" (when interviewing a liberal).
Chandra Levy-Elizabeth Smart reporting
On July 12, 2001, Brent Bozell of the conservative Media Research Center issued a press release stating that the failure of CBS News to run a single story regarding the disappearance of former Congressional intern Chandra Levy was evidence of "media bias". This press release was featured prominently by several conservative news organizations. CBS News eventually ran a single story about the Levy disappearance the following week.
In 2002, the American press began focusing on kidnappings (especially of children like Elizabeth Smart). 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.
Criticism from Walter Cronkite
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." A possible 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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
According to the theory, Tager, who is apparently mentally disturbed, was convinced that the news media was beaming signals into his head.
In the December 2001 issue of Harper's Magazine, writer Paul Limbert Allman concluded that Professor 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.
"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"). On his last CBS Evening News broadcast, 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 then-U.S. 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. 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 live studio, repeatedly shouting, "fight AIDS, not Arabs...fight AIDS, not Arabs...", just as the opening credits rolled. In embarrassment, Rather ordered producers to "break for a commercial", after which he apologized for the activists' actions (they were later detained by CBS security).
"Ratherisms"
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dan RatherRather is known for his many off-the-cuff colorful analogies and descriptions while filling the air during live broadcasts.
And from Comedy Central's 2006 Daily Show / Colbert Report Midterm Midtacular on November 7th, 2006:
"Ran away with it like a hobo with a sweet potato pie."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. 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;
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.
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.
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. and Brokaw took over as America's most-watched evening news anchor in the '90s and kept the spot until his retirement in 2004. Brian Williams has since kept NBC Nightly News as the most-watched broadcast or cable news program in the United States.
User Comments Add a comment…