Barring a miracle, CBS will not renew the legendary newsman's contract when it expires in late November. All signs point to it.
Still, like Sisyphus, Rather keeps pushing the rock at Black Rock.
"I don't quit. It's not in me," Rather, 74, said yesterday in a rare interview about his future at CBS. "As long as there's any chance I can stay and do meaningful work, that's what I want to do. Not every day can be bliss."
Bliss? The McCarthy hearings would be bliss compared to Rather's last 18 months at CBS.
Following Memogate, he was forced to step down as CBS Evening News anchor in March '05 after a record 24 years. Mike Wallace, among several other marquee colleagues, said he should have been fired.
At 60 Minutes, where Rather is a full-time correspondent, some staffers still resent his presence. He did only eight pieces last season; normal workload is about 20. His last ran June 4, several weeks after the end of the '05-06 season.
Perhaps the most damning sign: Since being named in October as CBS News president, Sean McManus has not had a single conversation with Rather, according to Rather.
In fact, the two have exchanged as much as hello only twice in that time, by Rather's calculation: in April, at an Overseas Press Club tribute to Ted Koppel, and in February at a memorial service for 60 Minutes director Artie Bloom.
From Kurtz:
CBS executives have decided there is no future role at the network for Dan Rather, making it certain that the man who sat in the anchor chair for 24 years will depart by this fall.These executives recognize Rather's contributions over four decades and are not trying to boot him because of the controversy surrounding his botched story on President Bush and the National Guard, say network sources who declined to be named while discussing a sensitive personnel matter. [...]
Rather, 74, declined to discuss his future this week. "I'm contracted to be a full-time '60 Minutes' correspondent, and I'm working on that contract," he said. People familiar with Rather's situation say he has had no serious negotiations with any of the cable networks but has attracted interest from people developing projects for television.
Rather has said several times that "my best work is still ahead of me." He is described by friends as hurt and puzzled by the attitude of CBS management. [...]
Some CBS staffers are sad about the turn of events, viewing it as a difficult moment for a man who once interviewed world leaders and went into war zones for the network. They question why the network can't find a suitable place for Rather in light of his long service to CBS.
The CBS executives hope a dignified exit can be arranged and that Rather can find a second career, perhaps in cable, the sources say. But they also believe that with Couric debuting as anchor in September, the news division needs to move on from the Rather era. And the fallout over his 2004 piece alleging that the Guard had given Bush favorable treatment -- based on documents that the network later acknowledged could not be authenticated -- has been a complicating factor.
I love the first and last paragraphs of the excerpt. CBS execs say they "are not trying
to boot him because of the controversy surrounding his botched story on
President Bush and the National Guard." But "the fallout over his
2004 piece alleging that the Guard had given Bush favorable treatment [...] has been a complicating factor."
Good help is so hard to find these days.
Meanwhile, via TV Barn, we learn that Rather's successor, Katie Couric, has recouped her entire first year's salary before her first broadcast.
UPDATE 6/16 9:09. I was about to write a post on how Rather's unceremonial exit parallels what he did to Walter Cronkite back in the early 80s. Thankfully, David Blum saved me the work.
