Former CBS anchor Dan Rather will speak at a $200-a-person fundraising event for the hard-left Nation magazine in New York on September 23. The Nation’s website advertises: "Meet Dan Rather, Jane Mayer, Marcy Wheeler, and Katrina Vanden Heuvel and Help Save The Nation." The panel’s discussion topic? "What Will Become of the News?...A conversation on the future of news."

Let's guess the verdict will be it's too corporate and conservative.

Vanden Heuvel is a big fan of Dan Rather’s discredited story/fiasco on George W. Bush’s military service of 2004. When he got the job speaking weekly into a the broadcast equivalent of a Dixie cup on HDNet, she encouraged him to dig deeper into his disastrous Bush scoop. (Gawker had some wicked fun with that.) Here’s The Nation’s promotional copy from the web site for Symphony Space, the event’s location:

The Nation presents a conversation on the future of news, featuring legendary newscaster Dan Rather, investigative reporter and best-selling author Jane Mayer, pioneering blogger Marcy Wheeler, and longtime editor and publisher – now publisher emeritus – of The Nation, Victor Navasky. Hosted by Katrina vanden Heuvel.

What will the media look like in five years? The discussion will explore the shape and consequences of fundamental shifts in the media landscape. There will also be ample time for audience questions. A cocktail reception with food will follow the discussion. Take this opportunity to hear from and meet some of the most influential journalists of our time.

All proceeds benefit The Nation. Admission includes the post-show reception, a one-year subscription to The Nation, and a signed copy of The Nation Guide.

Rather’s clearly now traveling in the strongest circles of the hard left: Jane Mayer spent seven years attacking Bush as an un-American tyrant, and wrote a book on "How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals." Marcy Wheeler’s best known for her blog posts for the the Bush-hating blogs Daily Kos and Firedoglake on the Plamegate trial of Cheney aide Scooter Libby.

Rather's infamous producer on the phony-documents Bush story, Mary Mapes, was a featured celebrity on The Nation's Alaska Cruise in 2007.

Rather’s routinely traveled far and wide over the last few assailing the media for needing a "spine transplant." So remember that Rather is also a powder-puff specialist when it comes to questioning top Democrats. Even on HDNet, when he was granted an interview with Barack Obama in April of 2008, he battered him with such tough inquiries as "do you pray?," whether he reads "mostly fiction or non-fiction," and "More than any other thing, what rubs you in terms of the lie told about you or a misstatement about something you've done?" He also asked Obama: "How do you stay outside the bubble, how do you get outside the bubble, not stay outside? How do you get outside, or do you?"

—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.