I stumbled upon this story off CNN and needed to do a double take.
Dan Rather is suing CBS for $70 million because he thinks CBS used him to tell a controversial story about President George W. Bush. The problem started three years ago when Rather broadcasted a story about a military commander covering up Bush's supposed scanty behavior in the National Guard.
Rather said he was a reporter at heart, so why didn't he recognize the story copy before the airing on CBS. A simple phrase could have sufficed: "Uh guys, I don't think I can broadcast this." Didn't he have enough clout in CBS where people would listen to him if a story didn't sound like it would come out right on air? For crying out loud, he had been the evening news anchor of a national news station for 42 years in 2004. Maybe I'm naive on the subject, but more than four decades of broadcast experience would give me plenty of ethical practice.
So bottom line, why pay $70 million to a guy who could have easily avoided the mistake. It's like giving the guy who missed the game winning shot a bonus for losing the game. Who justifies such an extravagant sum? If CBS wants to settle this, they're going to have to give Katie Couric back to NBC.
I welcome your thoughts.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Chris: I think you are right. My guess is Rather will get very little sympathy. In fact, the New York Times reported today that the court documents have him essentially admitting he mostly read whatever script they handed him. Not a very pretty picture for a guy who spent years billing himself as a hard-nose reporter turned anchor.
Post a Comment