Retired anchors Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather (and a pile of other liberal media bigwigs) recently made time for a book party Bill Clinton threw in New York for his old defense secretary Bill Cohen and his wife Janet Langhart. Mark Shanahan reported the shindig for The Boston Globe:
Held on the third floor of the historic Russian Tea Room, the exclusive affair was hosted by former president Bill Clinton to celebrate the couple's new book, "Love in Black and White." Guests included former news anchors Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw, CBS president Leslie Moonves , "Primary Colors" author Joe Klein, First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, cultural critic Michael Eric Dyson, Newsweek's [International Editor/ABC pundit] Fareed Zakaria, "Inside Edition" anchor Deborah Norville , and MTV creator Robert Pittman. (Michael Douglas and his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones,couldn't make it but sent a bouquet of flowers.)...
Klein, who's known Cohen for many years, said the couple are an uncommon breed, especially in the nation's capital. "Cool people are unusual in D.C., and these people are very cool," Klein said. "Cohen's favorite television show is 'Nip/Tuck.' I mean, you go to their house for dinner, and you're not talking about the latest poll numbers in Iowa."
Moonves, who brought along his wife, "Early Show" anchor Julie Chen , said he and Cohen go way back. "And he happens to serve on the board of the CBS Corporation," Moonves added, laughing.
Dan Abrams, chief legal correspondent for NBC News, admitted he doesn't know Cohen or Langhart all that well, but he's always pleased to get an invite from a former president. "It was hard to say no," said Abrams, eyeing the Tea Room's floor-to-ceiling mirrors and general over-the-top decor. "You don't usually see this style outside of Vegas."
Perhaps someone can tell Shanahan that Abrams is not just some NBC reporter -- he's the boss, running MSNBC shows as General Manager.
Dan Rather still possesses enough star power to make his college bookers oversell his journalistic career, apparently polished free of any scandals. Rather's agreed to speak at Tufts University's Edward R. Murrow Symposium (Rather never minds being associated with another legendary liberal CBS hack.) From the Tufts Daily story:
The communications and media studies office announced to the Daily that former "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather will headline the second annual Edward R. Murrow Symposium in April.
Also speaking will be Kimberly Abbott, a media adviser for the International Crisis Group; Dave Marash, a Washington-based anchor for Al Jazeera English; the Boston Globe's Charles Sennott; and Commander Joseph "Cappy" Surette, APR, a public affairs officer for the U.S. European Command (EUCOM)/Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) Liaison Office.
"I'm very excited about the panel," Director of the Communications and Media Studies Program Julie Dobrow said in an e-mail. "We have both print and broadcast reporters with impeccable credentials, and folks who have a range of different kinds of experiences in journalism."
