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Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Rather’s parting words for CBS
After mostly remaining silent about his shabby treatment at the hands of CBS News, Dan Rather, who was released from the network after 44 years of service, has just released the following statement:
“I appreciate the words and gestures contained in today’s press release by CBS.
I leave CBS News with tremendous memories. But I leave now most of all with the desire to once again do regular, meaningful reporting. My departure before the term of my contract represents CBS’s final acknowledgement, after a protracted struggle, that they had not lived up to their obligation to allow me to do substantive work there. As for their offers of a future with only an office but no assignments, it just isn’t in me to sit around doing nothing. So I will do the work I love elsewhere, and I look forward to sharing details about that soon.
As I go about deciding where and with whom that can best be done, I want to say how grateful I am to have worked with so many outstanding CBS men and women over the years. From producers, to correspondents, to technical crews, it has been my great fortune to have had some of the best pros in journalism at my back and at my side. They are the true heart of CBS News, and they will always have my respect.
Too much is made of anchors and their personalities, their ups and downs. The larger issues — the role of a free press and of honest, real news in a democracy, the role of technology in supporting a free press, the “corporatization” of news and its effects on news content — all deserve more attention, more discussion and more passionate debate.
I’ll see you soon.â€?
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Angelina in … Gunga Dan out
Are you ready? Have you planned ahead so nobody will call, knock or otherwise interrupt the Big Event tonight at 9 on CNN? Have you set the DVR for backup?
I refer, of course, to Angelina Jolie’s first U.S. interview since giving birth in Africa. If you have failed to read the excerpts or see the clips or witness the incredible hype on CNN, well, you’re clearly not a serious pop-culture-vulture.
Under the guise of chatting up World Refugee Day, Anderson Cooper landed this “get” with Jolie, who will puff up her lips for nearly an hour on “Anderson Cooper 360.”
Among the dribbles we’ve heard thus far: Now that she and love-mate Brad Pitt have produced a biological daughter, Shiloh Nouvel, the couple is planning to adopt another child — country of origin, race and ethnicity still to be determined — to go with the two adoptees they already have.
As if we thought otherwise, Jolie confirms that Pitt was indeed in the delivery room when their bouncing baby girl was delivered by C-section.
Cooper’s journalistic coup comes on the heels of Matt Lauer’s earth-shattering (and highly embarrassing) “interview” with pop star Britney Spears. Lauer deserves an Edward R. Murrow Award for successfully averting his eyes from the behemoth breasts she was proffering directly at him. That “get” was a bust — pun intended.
Tonight, if Cooper really wants to make news, he will ask Jolie where she’s hiding Pitt these days. The guy has faded into the background since hooking up with Jolie. She talks; he lurks. He’s good at shoving photographers out of the way, but otherwise, Brad Pitt has become the Katie Holmes in that relationship. (Katie has barely peeped since procreating with Tom Cruise).
Of course, I’ll watch tonight. It’s what I do. But I’m not thrilled about the prospect.
CBS News confirms: Rather’s out
Part-time Austinite Dan Rather is officially — and prematurely — out at CBS News.
After 44 years with the network and 24 as anchor, Rather was eased into nothingness after a discredited story about President Bush’s military service. He filed a handful of stories for “60 Minutes” last season, including a recent profile of Whole Foods owner John Mackey.
Late last week Rather said he was considering an offer from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to produce a series and additional documentaries for Cuban’s high-def network HDNet.
Today, after “no commenting” for days, CBS News finally confirmed the obvious. Rather’s contract, which officially ends in November, has been ended early.
“There will always be a part of Dan Rather at CBS News,” said Sean McManus, CBS News president. “He is truly a ‘reporter’s reporter,’ and he has helped to train several generations of broadcast journalists. His legacy cannot be replicated.”
With absolutely no warning or fanfare, Rather’s final CBS report — an interview with high-powered Texas defense attorney Dick DeGuerin — aired last weekend on “CBS Sunday Morning.”
CBS said a prime-time special on Rather’s career will air “sometime in the fall,” and a contribution is being made to Rather’s alma mater, Sam Houston State University, in his honor.
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