Disgraced former CBS anchorman Dan Rather continues to make the rounds, trying to rehabilitate his image and paint himself as a man wronged by an overcorporatized, politically neutralized media structure. That's no longer surprising. But why would schools of journalism gloss right over his embrace of fabricated National Guard records in 2004? Viviana Aldous at The Daily Texan reported on Rather's Thursday appearance at the University of Texas in Austin:
“Journalism continues to weather its profound changes as it transits into its digital future,” said Tracy Dahlby, director of the School of Journalism. “Rather has spent six decades getting the job done, telling people things they need to know about their world they otherwise wouldn’t. He’s done it with courage, style, wit and occasionally the controversy that [often] comes [with being a] journalist.”
Is Tracy Dahlby really expressing an opinion, or just taking politeness to an embarrassing extreme? But at least Dahlby didn't call Rather the "world's best journalist," as odd as that sounds:
Austinite Kenneth Hiller, who graduated from UT in 1980 with a bachelor’s in journalism, said Rather is the world’s best journalist, despite accusations of liberal bias.
“Anyone in the media who doesn’t go along with the governmental line automatically gets called a liberal, especially if a Republican president is in office,” Hiller said. “With Rather, that started with Nixon and Watergate. He was just being a good journalist.”
Hiller would be right only if the standard was political: "good journalism" is defined as aiding the growth of liberalism, no matter whether documents are verifiable or not. At least there was one professor who seemed willing to agree Rather was deeply wrong and not victimized:
Clinical journalism professor Wanda Cash encouraged her students to attend the lecture because Rather provides excellent context for what journalists do, she said.
“He wanted to be true so deeply that he may have forgotten the most important part of the journalistic creed: verification,” Cash said about the documents.
But it was Hiller and not Cash who was used to end the story. Aldous couldn't even acknowledge Rather used fabricated documents. She could only say "The authenticity of the documents Rather based his report on was later debated." Let's hope the Daily Texan hasn't editorialized about people who can't accept Barack Obama's birth certificate.
Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News added detail from a Saturday journalism awards luncheon at the Headliners Club in Austin. Someone asked (with obvious distaste) if it’s "news" on Fox for Glenn Beck to quiz Ann Coulter about Rush Limbaugh. Rather flattered the questioner: "One entertainer interviewing a second entertainer about a third entertainer isn't my definition of news."
But Rather "said he would oppose any effort to curtail Fox News or any other opinion outlet on radio or TV. He said even if there were a cable station of pure propaganda -- 'and we may be near that now' -- he would oppose censoring it in any way."
It’s quite rich to see Rather dissing someone else as a propagandist.
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
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Comments Policy
Rather is just a
October 25, 2009 - 07:47 ET by MidAmericaRather is just a journalistic relic of a by-gone day when journalists were the information gatekeepers. Journalists in the old days were able to be 'objective' because opposing information was suppressed.
A good point, MA
October 25, 2009 - 10:57 ET by GalvanicNot unlike Bill Clinton, Rather appears to be campaigning among friendly and sympathetic audiences to repair a greatly damaged legacy. I believe he genuinely doesn't understand why the public and his peers don't hold him in high regard like they do Walter Cronkite.
His strategy appears to be to convince friendly audiences that he was the guardian of real journalism, attacked by the upstarts of a new, undisciplined mob of bloggers and cable pundits posing as journalists, and thrown under the bus by corporate masters interested only in the almighty dollar.
Network news always
October 25, 2009 - 13:32 ET by MidAmericaNetwork news always functioned as a filter through which the few powers that be at the top of network news decided what was proper for the country to know. There were three networks all with the same worldview. It didn't really matter which net you watched because they were essentially all the same. That is where the concept of the multi-million dollar anchor evolved. The anchors became celebrities that brought in the viewers not the content of the news. The country felt secure that they knew what was going on because someone like Walter Cronkite read the news to them. No more.
Gee, Dan....
October 25, 2009 - 07:55 ET by notinstl...you certainly are bitter and angry.....for being a LIAR.
RATHER...
October 25, 2009 - 08:19 ET by danybhoyRather is a journalistic fraudster who will never accept the fact he got busted over fake documents he never checked out before airing the Bush National Guard story.
Now he's acting like the 2 schmucks at the end of "Trading Places" who can't believe they lost their places at the stock exchange. He is spending millions in court to save face when he should shut up, walk away, lick his wounds & try to enjoy what's left of his life. He does'nt matter any more, & he can't accept that.
"...How blind can you be, don't you see...
...that the gambler lost all he does not have..."
Nightwish
Credibility
October 26, 2009 - 15:24 ET by Jerry MackWho has the most credibility: Rather or Olbermann?
Answer: Neither
The best thing that could
October 25, 2009 - 07:57 ET by bse5150The best thing that could happen to Conservatives is for this guy to get a job in the media again as some kind of 'reliable authority'. The MSM is working so hard to kill themselves already, this would just be another hammerblow to their collective heads.
The comments made here by
October 25, 2009 - 08:08 ET by celatorThe comments made here by members of the "press" are proof positive that they cannot see, let alone admit, the truth about Rather or the disgrace they brought to their own profession by politicizing it.
Oh, but they expect us to believe they are objective and telling the truth when they explain the "news" to us schlubs. Clueless.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Now that's a story
October 25, 2009 - 08:14 ET by RousseHow brave of Rather to come out against censoring the news. Did he mention faking the news during his chat in Austin? He was so sure of his power and might that he thought he could throw an election with a bogus story. Makes you wonder how many times he did this kind of stunt before---without getting caught. Now that's a story for an investigative journalist.
Don’t forget the event
October 25, 2009 - 10:58 ET by ReaverDon’t forget the event that launched Rather’s career involved questionable ethics. It was him getting credit as the reporter who broke the news of JFK’s death in Dallas that launched his career at CBS News. Decades later he admitted that he learned of the news when he overheard a newspaper reporter calling in the story and knew he could beat him to the punch by running in front of a TV camera and breaking the news. For years he accepted credit for that without ever giving credit to the reporter who actually found out the news. Later he filed a story from Dallas claiming that school children there cheered when the news was announced on the PA at their school. He later admitted the story was made up. Dan Rather has never let facts get in the way of his story telling.
I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me. - Hunter S. Thompson
Dan was Rather ambitious
October 25, 2009 - 17:44 ET by konoYow. Didn't know that.
Just goes to show, you could always count on Dan to bring in the story, going all the way back to his early days -- and whether the story was real or not.
Wotta guy...
Welllll, lookee there
October 26, 2009 - 09:20 ET by CO2MakerI didn't know that about Dan-o either. So, he reported on a made-up school that cheered the death of an American. They weren't Palestinians, were they? Oh, no, that happened 38 years later. Maybe they were Zionists? Nah, probably not. I know: Batista-istas?
Dan Rather has NEVER been
October 25, 2009 - 08:17 ET by rockyracoonDan Rather has NEVER been objective!!! Now he is a pathetic bias hack, who sold his soul and reputation to try and swing a presidential election.
Facts are like kryptonite to the liberal.
The evidence . . .
October 25, 2009 - 09:56 ET by GalvanicIf Dan Rather were the paragon of journalism that he and his admirers claim he is, why don't any of the significant news organizations hire him?
The guy tried to throw a Presidential election with a bogus report, for crying out loud. And though he promised to verify the authenticity of his evidence, he -- not unlike OJ Simpson searching for his ex-wife's killer -- has failed to do so (No surprise there, eh?)
Rather's ego can't accept the truth: his dangerously biased reports and fabrications have done more to undermine the legitimacy of network television journalism than any other single factor.
Lunatic
October 25, 2009 - 08:21 ET by Patriot IIThis dirtbag calls Fox News "propagandists"? Thats a classic of the pot calling the kettle black!!
I suppose
October 25, 2009 - 08:41 ET by 10ksnookerYou can still lie and be courageous. You just can't be a truth telling newsman anymore.
"But why would schools of
October 25, 2009 - 08:51 ET by chessplayer"But why would schools of journalism gloss right over his embrace of"
There are no longer any schools of "journalism" in the U.S. Schools of political indoctrination masking themselves as schools of journalism, yes,,,but no actual schools of journalism.
The unasked question
October 25, 2009 - 09:05 ET by Jeff in Miami BeachNo one asked the obvious question. Since he got caught with poorly created documents that he said was true, how many times did he get by with using fake documents? How many innocent lives did he ruin?
If you think medical care is expensive now wait until it is free!
What This Texan Wants To Know
October 25, 2009 - 09:18 ET by Rhymes With RightWhy are my tax dollars being used to honor this lying sack of cow-flops -- especially after he presented forged documents as official records of an agency of the state of Texas?
Blogging at rhymeswithright.mu.nu
→ Cow Flops! That's it!
October 25, 2009 - 09:24 ET by Cool ArrowAfter eating the mushrooms growing on cow flops, Dan really did see the National Guard documents.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
Are we in the Twilight
October 25, 2009 - 09:33 ET by Tom PaineAre we in the Twilight Zone? We now have Dan "Fake but True" Rather attempting to call out Fox News about journalistic ethics. Let's see Dan, you faked documents using word processor technology that did not exist in the 1970's to try and smear George W Bush weeks before the 2004 election. Glenn Beck played clips of Obama adminstration advisors in context, in their own words, demonstrating their embrace of Marxist philosophy. Who is it that is engaging in propoganda here Dan?
A has been seeking relevance
October 25, 2009 - 09:38 ET by richb313Dan Rather is just a has been seeking relevance. It is really sad to see. He could have retired with some grace. He could have rehabilitaded himself by distancing himself from the fake documents, performed the required public Mea Culpas, addmitted he did not do his due diligence by indepentdently verifying the documents and addmitted he was excited by the prospects of a story he wanted to be true distorted his judgement. If he had done those things instead of living in denial even if he was no longer on the air he would not be a disgrace which is what he is.
It is too late to persue the path I laid out. He has already taken a road with no u-turns. History is trying to be re-written and considering the publics willingness to suspend disbelief it might actually work. How else can you explain the number of Americans that think the Govt. either caused 9/11 or knew the specifics and did nothing to stop it. You really have to be around the bend to think that kind of thing could be kept secret without scores of insiders coming forward with hard evidence.
Dan will not go quietly and will not fade. You actually have to admire his determination, even though it is a self destructive path. Dan Rather is no longer part of the National Conversation and that more than anything else is what eats him up. I really feel sorry for him. It is hard to watch a man destroy himself, even if he has help.
Rather in Texas
October 25, 2009 - 09:39 ET by charlietexasAustin, Texas is an oasis for the likes of Rather. Not just the University but the city. It is a bastion of far, far left wing thinking. He goes to the Headliners Club in Austin and I guarantee you, no one in that audience was even a center leftist. Even with his record, he was right to admonish those communist manifesto, Pravda spouting people in the room to let Fox and others have their say, even if "their say" is the truth damnit!!! Some of these people down here need to die out to even things out. I can't wait until the 2010 elections.
Gushing for Dangerous Dan
October 25, 2009 - 10:03 ET by GalvanicAustinite Kenneth Hiller, who graduated from UT in 1980 with a bachelor’s in journalism, said Rather is the world’s best journalist, despite accusations of liberal bias.
???
“Anyone in the media who doesn’t go along with the governmental line automatically gets called a liberal, especially if a Republican president is in office,” Hiller said.
So, then Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, et al are LIBERALS?
“With Rather, that started with Nixon and Watergate. He was just being a good journalist.”
I didn't know that Rather busted the Watergate story. I thought it was Woodward & Bernstein. Gee, I learn something new everyday. ;-)
don't count for much these days
October 25, 2009 - 10:42 ET by jon_torlinYou know, it used to be that in Texas, a UT education was something to be proud of. Now it seems that the only thing UT is good for are the football games(good season so far). Some of the people I know that are liberals had gone to school at UT. Others that I know that have gone to A&M are conservatives.
Go figure. I wouldn't live in Austin if I were paid to.
-Jon
Rather continues to dig and the water gets deeper and deeper..
October 25, 2009 - 10:10 ET by ThalpyRather continues to dig and the water gets deeper and deeper. Journalism isn't continuing "to weather its profound changes as it transits into its digital future" as is suggested by Tracy Dahlby. Journalism's insistence on being a participatory medium has assured its doom by allowing its orthodoxy to trump the truth.
“Journalism continues to weather its profound changes as it transits into its digital future"- I don't think so.
Alternate History
October 25, 2009 - 10:34 ET by slickwillie2001If the Bamster was the Republican president in 2004, Rathergate would have been about forged birth certificates from Canada, Indonesia, Kenya, etc.
“Rather has spent six
October 25, 2009 - 10:49 ET by MikeB“Rather has spent six decades getting the job done, telling people things he wants them to believe instead of what they need to know about their world." FIFY, Tracy.
If he had been reporting what we needed to know he wouldn't have tried to derail W's re-election with "fake but accurate" propaganda from the DNC, and he would still have a job and a reputation.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
UTA; Rather
October 25, 2009 - 11:21 ET by Dr. RonUT at Ausitin has ben a model PC and Leftist bastion for 15+ years. Of course they want Dan Rather; he of the... even if USAF memo about Bush is a fraud, it is accurate...fame/shame. As for Rather...your lawsuit was tossed; go find work at the MSNBC, CNN's of the world; you fit right into those hate-speech, lying outlets.
Ronald John Lofaro, PhD
for the record, part 2
October 25, 2009 - 17:05 ET by RousseJust for the record---it's UT, the University of Texas. UTA is the University of Texas at Arlington, which is several hundred miles north of Austin.
add ten to that
October 25, 2009 - 18:09 ET by konoTook a year of history, gubm'nt, and related courses at U.T. 25 years ago (things that weren't readily available at engineering school), and these classes received heavy doses of PC/Leftist indoctrination from our professors even that long ago.
Makes me wonder -- did the place ever have Conservative inclinations?
Austin, TX
October 25, 2009 - 12:18 ET by boomerconNot only is T.U. just about the most liberal college in Texas, its journalism "school" boasts a fellow named Jennings, who is a real whack job, far far out in left field.
And let's not forget that Austin, surrounded by Texas, has a city motto of "Keep Austin Weird".
for the record
October 25, 2009 - 17:02 ET by RousseJust for the record---it's UT not TU. University of Texas.
Jonah Goldberg said it best Friday at AIM
October 25, 2009 - 12:30 ET by wearyAfter getting booted from CBS, Rather
spends his time climbing the jacka$$ tree, falling from it and
hitting every branch on the way down.
Nixon pegged Dan Rather, early on ..
October 25, 2009 - 13:00 ET by Gary HallNixon pegged Dan Rather the best.. back in a 1974, at a National Association of Broadcasters convention in Houston, as Dan Rather rose to ask a question of President Nixon, the audience of journalists offered him a rather sustained roar of both jeers and applause:
CBS considered firing Rather over the incident. Rather was usually onto something which indeed deserved investigation and attention, but Nixon clearly understood that Rather's journalism was often agenda driven.
(;~/ gary
Yes, I peg that as one of the first moments ...
October 25, 2009 - 13:30 ET by CO2Makerwhen the press started to feel its oats. By the way, at the episode (which I actually remember seeing on TV) other reporters in the room applauded (the ones who didn't gasp).
And let's not forget the taste of TANG with Mapes syrup in Dan's mouth. Even if the memos were faked, they showed the truth of the underlying story that the Bush scion tried to shirk his duties and avoid, you know, real military work. Except, um, the story that came out in the last few months that Dubya, while in NG duty, asked to be sent to Viet Nam but was turned down because the Air Force wanted more experiences pilots.
One more thing
October 25, 2009 - 13:35 ET by CO2MakerThis reminds me of the people who dissed President Bush for being a dim bulb (as opposed to Kerry or EMK, saw). Besides his Harvard Business graduate degree (no legacy stuff to grease the skis, as in undergraduate school), Bush was smart and skillful enough to be trusted with an expensive supersonic piece of flying equipment, the kind with guns and nasty sh*t on it that could really make a mess. Kerry? Flat boat, Polaroid, and portable tape recorder. Teddy? Somebody else's Spanish-language test-taking pen and an Oldsmobile.
Uhbama? Apparently a fat
October 26, 2009 - 07:38 ET by HockeyKidUhbama? Apparently a fat lot of nothin'.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
This NumbNut
October 25, 2009 - 14:32 ET by DoktorFrankenThis NumbNut will go to his grave (none too soon for me, mind you) spewing. Just spewing the Leftist Vomit that springs forth whenever the Ghost of Saul Alinsky inhabits a NumbNut's soul.
Dan Rather is years past his shelf life. To create my own ''Ratherism'' --- He's more useless that a boob job on a ninety year old hag.
JMHO, you understand.
If Saul Alinsky owned a news channel it would be MSNBC. ---- Me
Herr Doktor, that was a
October 25, 2009 - 16:56 ET by MikeBHerr Doktor, that was a mental image I really could have done without.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
→ DokFranken
October 25, 2009 - 17:01 ET by Cool ArrowI'll go ya' one better.
A Helen Thomas facelift would result in a couple of pimples and a goatee.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
Oh My Gosh!
October 25, 2009 - 17:37 ET by DoktorFrankenWhat hath my comment wrought?
JMHO, you understand.
If Saul Alinsky owned a news channel it would be MSNBC. ---- Me
Helen Thomas?
October 25, 2009 - 17:43 ET by MrShyDid someone say Helen Thomas?
→ Thanks Shy
October 25, 2009 - 17:59 ET by Cool ArrowYou would have done better to pixellize the face and leave the rest of the body.
yuckkk
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
MrS... LMAO... You've
October 25, 2009 - 18:07 ET by bigtimerMrS...
LMAO...
You've added some since I last saw your Thomas Portfolio.
Some good ones at that!
(I'm still laughing...that last picture says it all, talk about a tingle up her leg)
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
Mr. Shy
October 25, 2009 - 20:45 ET by DoktorFrankenWhere can I get one of those t-shirt models?
JMHO, you understand.
If Saul Alinsky owned a news channel it would be MSNBC. ---- Me
“Anyone in the media
October 25, 2009 - 14:43 ET by Jack BauerReally?
So that makes Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin, Ingraham, Tammy Bruce, Lee Rodgers, Mark Steyn, et al, all LIBERALS?
I'm seriously re-evaluating them now.
good point in your .sig line
October 25, 2009 - 19:57 ET by konoAlso notice, JB, that Obama is just one vowel short of an amoeba...
go away blather
October 25, 2009 - 14:47 ET by right of wayi saw blather recently on cavuto, and he just sickened me by talking about the integrity of journalism is not what it used to be when he was around. this comming from a lier who slanted the news to fit his political beliefs.
High on my list of
October 25, 2009 - 16:58 ET by MikeBHigh on my list of oxymorons are: political ethics and journalistic integrity.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
Courage?
October 25, 2009 - 15:45 ET by pgrossjrI suppose it does take courage (stupidity?) to risk your career on a phony story.
the quote........
October 25, 2009 - 18:08 ET by LoosMoose>> "Rather has spent six decades getting the job done, telling people things they need to know about their world they otherwise wouldn’t"
The reason of course... that the people wouldn't know it if Rather had not reported it is because he was the one making it up from thin air in the first place.
Question
October 25, 2009 - 19:16 ET by general companyDid Rather get to speak without being interupted and harrased. But yet he still bashes the Right anyway. Go away Dan, nobody has any use for you anymore
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
You're washed up,
October 25, 2009 - 20:50 ET by RR GOPYou're washed up, Rather...go away.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
Rather is irrelevant.
October 26, 2009 - 01:57 ET by marvlRather is irrelevant. He's a has been, a relic, a fossil, and a pathetic and embarrassing excuse for a journalist. That UT Austin would have him as a speaker just shows how irrelevant schools of journalism have become. Indeed, one could argue they are has beens, relics, fossils, and pathetic and embarrassing excuses for institutions of higher learning.
Hothouse Austin
October 26, 2009 - 07:42 ET by 12-String InfidelAustin is probably the only place in Texas where a lying fraud like Dan Rather would be embraced as "the world's best journalist". I worked for a Democrat institution there for years, and I can tell you that the town is the safe haven for liberals within the Lone Star State...with even more moral bankrupcy being spread around with the influx of numerous Northern California techies over the last fifteen years or so. I still support University of Texas Longorns Football, but the academic institution itself becomes more and more embarrassing each year. Even back in the 70s I heard campus crowds there "boo" Ronald Reagan and cheer for Jessie Jackson. Thanks goodness for East Austin and the strong Hispanic culture in that town. Without that, it might as well be College Park, MD (but with generally better-looking co-eds and no Terps).
“Journalism continues to
October 26, 2009 - 07:43 ET by HockeyKid“Journalism continues to weather its profound changes as it transits into its digital future,” says Tracy Dahlby.
This expresses exactly the problem with "journalism" today. The nitwits who seek to practice it fail to recognize what it is. They think it's all about format, presentation, delivery, medium, etc., etc., yawn. J-schools fail to teach the one thing journalists need to recognize.
Journalism is forever unchanging. It has nothing to do with format, presentation, delivery, medium, etc., etc. It is simply this:
Seek the truth. Tell the truth.
The rest is nothing but window dressing.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
Rather
October 26, 2009 - 09:41 ET by jessieHRather was a good journalist, till he lied on network tv about Bush. That was the beginning of the end of journalism. RIP.
Has. Been. Has-been!
October 26, 2009 - 13:22 ET by farstar99Let's play Electric Company!
Nincom. Poop. Nincompoop.
Dan Rather
October 26, 2009 - 14:50 ET by Big MommaPsssssst.......Mr. Rather.....looking for the redemption of your reputation ?
Here's what you do: find the Birth Certificate.
Instant induction into the Journalistic Hall of Fame.....as the man who toppled a political empire and rescued the United States of America.
Think about it.........................................................................
Obama Lies....Freedom Dies