Eek: Dan Rather's HDNet Runs His 9/11 Show...Then 'Loose' Truther Documentary
Disgraced ex-anchor Dan Rather wrote for The Huffington Post last Friday about how Americans are in danger of losing their grip on our history, touting his HDNet special on 9/11. So if Rather cares about history, what would he say about his boss Mark Cuban and the HDNet folks putting on truther-conspiracy documentaries on his network in prime time on September 11, 2011?
Ace of Spades had the scoop. HDNet tweeted: "LOOSE CHANGE, a controversial look at the conspiracy theory that September 11th was an inside job is up next at 9:15pm ET." That would be right after "Dan Rather Remembers 9/11" at 8 pm Eastern. Dan Rather seems to have found the right location for his loose and imaginative career in anti-conservative journalism. He wrote for the HuffPost with his grandpa lecture about how he loved Ed Murrow broadcasts in World War II, then boasted:
I now work with a small band of producers and editors on a weekly news magazine on HDNet. The staff numbers fewer than two dozen, and almost all of them were born decades after World War II. For most of them Vietnam is history, as is Watergate. Some don't remember the fall of the Berlin Wall or the Cold War or Tiananmen Square. A few were merely teenagers on 9/11. At some point, current events, so vivid in our minds, pass into the realm of history for the generations that follow.
For the last month or so, we've been working on a program looking back at the decade since the terrorist attacks. Our focus has been on personal remembrances, including the experiences of a single mother deployed to Afghanistan and the son who had to grow up fast back home in Kansas. We have been fighting two wars for years now, for some who have sacrificed so much, these will be vivid memories. I worry that for most of the country who have had the luxury of detachment these wars will be too easily forgotten.
Another one of our stories is that of retired New York City firefighter Lee Ielpi, who lost his son, also a firefighter, in the Twin Towers. Ielpi has helped create a visitors center near Ground Zero to tell the story of what happened. And what sticks with you is how he feels the story of that day, what came before it and what followed, is slipping away. He says so many young people come to the center knowing nothing about what took place and that schools aren't teaching it. Hopefully the flurry of activity and television specials around this anniversary will be a chance to teach, but Ielpi's experience is a reminder of how we must remain vigilant in teaching history.
Is that what HDNet is doing? Remaining vigilant in teaching history by rerunning truther conspiracy theories?
<<Like this post? Help us take on media bias by donating to NewsBusters (there's also a PayPal option on that page). Without the support of our readers, NewsBusters would not be possible.>>
- Tim Graham's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
History
Submitted by Chris Norman on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 9:10am.
"For most of them Vietnam is history, as is Watergate"
Well, of course, Dan, both events actually are history - for all of us. I mean, they did happen in the past (I'm assuming you mean the war in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal and not the actual building). But, these were Dan's "glory years" and they will never be "history" to him - he just can't let them go...
Also part of history...
Submitted by Ed Gregory on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 9:24am.
...is Rather's attempted hatchet job on George W. Bush's National Guard record and how it cost him his CBS gig. I remember it like it was just a few years ago.
Courage.
Viewership
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 9:27am.
Apparently the total viewership of HDNet consists of a small band of producers and editors.
HDNet is in a ratings battle with Current TV.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 9:39am.
LOL. Too bad my cable provider has decided to not carry either one, so I can't do my part to not watch.
(Or something like that.)
Can"t wait for the Pearl Harbor day special
Submitted by stunned on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 9:46am.
Will they run the special showing how FDR "allowed" us to get hit that day just to get us into the war?
tired of liberal lies
The Truth Is
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 11:00am.
Obama is a Truther.
Want proof: he hired Van Jones, a proven Truther. You are what you voluntarily associate yourself with.
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html
For most of them Vietnam is history, as is Watergate.
Submitted by Gary Hall on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 12:18pm.
With due respect to the topic and memory of 9/11, I ask Rather; Is Riadygate history -- or did they never know?
Just why are they making movies about Jack Abramoff, "Casino Jack," and not
Dan. When you censor the news (it can be found) - there is no history.
Since converting to Christianity in 1990, James has been an avid evangelical. Wow - even with that he still received little interest from the national MSM - this convicted foreign criminal who was said to have visited the Clinton WH some 20 times, 6 being personal visits with President Bill Clinton.
The interesting issue here is that while the criminal acts of James Riady, and his association with President Clinton, was rather big news, he never became a household name. Why? Simple, our national media which is quick to repeatedly bring up any stain on the Republican side of the isle, will never bring up the subject of James Riady, in conversation, or debate.
One would be curious to know how many times Dan Rather mentioned James Riady vs how many with Jack Abramoff?
(;~/ gary
Maybe Dan will finally produce "Lucy Ramirez"...
Submitted by drsamherman on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 1:10pm.
...and the Easter Bunny at the same time.
There are three categories of history . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 5:01pm.
1. The history you know
2. The history you don't know
3. The history the MSM invents
Rather is a master of the last category.