In a quick, controversy-free sign off, Dan Rather vacated the CBS anchor seat he inherited from Walter Cronkite 24 years ago, using the word he originally unsuccessfully tried to use as his signature sign-off years ago.
But unlike when Cronkite reluctantly relinquished his anchor seat seat and Rather was considered one of the hottest newsmen on TV, Rather last night left proud but with his legacy tarnished not only due to the controversies that swirled around him, but the fact that his preferred retirement date was discreetly but definitely shoved up by CBS.
CBS, in effect, cut its losses.
As far as Rather’s final comment, there’s good news and bad news for CBS and Dan Rather.
The Good News: It was a gracious statement where he talked about 911, the tsunami and other challenges. It was delivered sans excess showmanship, a simple gracious sign off. (The text is here. You can watch a video of the sign off here and here.
The Bad News: Even though Rather’s sign off tonight was noncontroversial, it provides additional evidence that CBS would be wise to cut its losses with Rather quickly and put all of its energies and promo into making a fresh start with the new newscast.
Those who wanted Rather gone are celebrating tonight but they’ll likely take his sign off without an acknowledgment of a controversy as him refusing to admit there were problems.
Realistically, though, corporations seldom change bigwigs that way; they try to do it with a minimum damage to their image. The salute to Dan Rather that followed (ironically preempting 60 Minutes Wednesday which may be canceled and deprive Rather of a high-profile journalism venue) largely reminded viewers of some of the high points of Rather’s career.
But it’s a bit strange that he chose to end tonight with the word “courage.”
Cronkite ended every newscast with “And that the way it is”, a slogan as celebrated as Chet Huntley and David Brinkley’s “Good Night David…Goodnight Chet…” These became catchphrases that comedians lampooned and were cherished by late 20th Century audiences. But when Rather used “courage” it flopped with his bosses…and the public….and he stopped ending his newscasts with it (until tonight). For more details see RatherBiased.com here.
In a nutshell,you could say that was Rather’s problem. He came across as a bit forced, not naturally sharing news with viewers. He never become the new Most Trusted Man In America (as Cronkite was called) — and among GOPers became the Most Distrusted Anchorman In America.
When Chet Huntley left, there was a sense of professional and public sadness. When David Brinkley retired, there were accolades, too. And when Uncle Walter left, it truly was the end of a new era and some people became misty eyed when he ended his last newscast with “And that’s the way it is…” Neither Cronkite nor the public realized how final that would be — that CBS would literally put him out to pasture, choosing to marginalize him instead of adequately using him as a journalistic resource.
Two final thought on Rather. He will be leaving some negative and positive legacies.
(1) His negative legacies are outlined by Michael Mekler in an info-packed column on his site. Mekler worked for the CBS station in Detroit for several years and details how Laurence Tisch began downsizing the CBS news operation, with nary a peep of protest from high-profile Rather. In other words: the Dan Rather era was marked by a decline in news quality and quantity:
Melancholy instead of glee is my primary emotion, though I feel no personal sadness for Rather. Rather’s departure only reminds me even more of how the quality and trustworthiness of broadcast journalism have declined in the two dozen years since Rather took over the anchor job from Walter Cronkite. My own work in radio news would begin the year after Rather became the Evening News anchor, and so I have witnessed this decline firsthand.
Read the post in its entirety. He ends it with this:
Although Rather argued against the cuts, he was too entrenched as a celebrity, and he lacked the imagination and authority to be effective in finding ways to convince Tisch to provide proper investment into CBS News, and to assist in finding ways to improve the quality of news gathering while reducing costs.
Despite Rather’s vaunted history as a reporter, he, like Tom Brokaw, was put in the anchor chair because he was seen as young and sexy, as opposed to Rather’s rival, Roger Mudd, who was seen as solid and trustworthy. In other words, Rather was never able to assume fully Walter Cronkite’s mantle of authority precisely because Rather never had the necessary qualities to do so.
Quirky behavior, the appearance of bias, and just downright incompetence all contributed to the drastic ratings slide at the CBS Evening News during Dan Rather’s two dozen years in the anchor chair. But by helplessly presiding over the dismantling of the probably the best broadcast journalism organization in history, of “fiddling while Rome burned”, Rather truly deserves severe criticism for his tenure. Remembering what CBS News had once been back before Rather became the network’s leading face, this remembrance is what brings melancholy on Rather’s departure today from that anchor chair.
(2)His positive legacy is underscored by San Diego Union-Tribune TV critic Bob Laurence in a must- read column. Laurence’s column is on the CBS Rather tribute that ran at 8 pm. After recounting the fact that CBS didn’t find bias in the Memogate affair, Laurence details some of Rather’s assignments and adds this point — which is important to fairly judge Rather’s tenure:
From there, it’s off to the Civil Rights movement, the assassination of President Kennedy, Vietnam, the Prince Charles-Diana wedding, the Challenger explosion, two wars with Iraq, indeed, every major news story of the latter half of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st. Rather neglects to mention The Washington Post when it comes to Watergate, however, leaving the impression that he and CBS were in the lead in exposing the scandal.
Those who are convinced of his liberal bias may be disappointed to see Rather grilling Democratic Presidents Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson as mercilessly as he questions Republicans Richard Nixon and the first President Bush.
Tellingly, he confesses that he sought the job of anchoring the news after a CBS executive told him that he was temperamentally more suited to reporting than anchoring.
He ends with this pointed note:
Rather’s future at CBS remains in doubt. He’s told one and all he will continue as a reporter for CBS, working at “60 Minutes Wednesday.” But CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves has already indicated that program may not be renewed for another season.
And tonight’s salute to Rather pre-empts “60 Minutes Wednesday.”
The bottom line is this: Dan Rather didn’t really end his career going out with a whimper, but with a bang — but not exactly the kind he had in mind 24 years ago.
BUT THERE ARE OTHER VOICES FROM DIFFERING VIEWPOINTS ON THIS ISSUE TOO:
—Jeff Jarvis:
The obit has been written many times. Tonight we buried the body.This was the end of the era of the anchor, of news as a lecture, of one-size-fits-all media, of journalism on a pedestal. That’s not Dan Rather’s fault. Other things are, but that’s not. tonight, he’s merely a symbol of an era that’s over.
…The era of the reporter — brave, swashbuckling, aggressive, eager — is not over; there will always be Dan Rathers who will stay on top of the big story and shout about it. But the era of one-way news is gone. And in a sense, we have Dan Rather to thank for that. If his last mistake had been a little less obvious, if his response had been a little bit quicker, if his tone had been a little less arrogant, he’d be back on the news tomorrow night.
What matters isn’t that he’s gone. And what matters isn’t that bloggers got his head…What matters is that bloggers have to be listened to. What matters is that the people will be heard.
–RatherBiased.com has a ton of stuff on their website. There is also this MUST READ POST called ” The Last Word on Rather”. Read it all. A small taste:
To us, the creators of RatherBiased.com, the day couldn’t have come sooner. During the course of operating this site, we’ve been highly critical of Rather in the hopes that such criticisms would both improve his journalism and educate others of the need for this improvement.
Rather in many ways is a complex figure. In some ways, he was the last of the old-school not-for-profit television reporters that were so common before the 1980s. But he never quite fit that mold, or any other mold for that matter. In the end, the stereotype that fits him best is that of a classical tragic figure, defined by contrasting characteristics, achieving great success and ultimately being done in by the very traits that brought him to his vaunted position.
It gives an overview of his career and it’s filled with specifics and a slew of good points. RBC adds:”Following Dan’s retirement, we’ll be taking a vacation from CBS. You will certainly hear more from us in the future.” We are sure we will (the name of their site lends itself quite well to a general media criticism website).
—Right Coast:”When I woke up this morning, I wondered whether I would feel bad for Dan Rather when he signed off tonight. Well … the answer is no. Maybe it’s because he’s been allowed pretend that he is simply entering some sort of semi-retirement or the fact his mug will still be beamed into our homes via Sixth Minutes. Or maybe it’s because I’m getting hardhearted in my old age. I’m honestly neither proud nor embarrassed by my lack of sympathy. It’s just a fact that the answer is no.”
–The conservative satire site Scrappleface offers this leaked report of what Dan really was going to say.
—Arguing With Signposts:”I’ve watched about 10 minutes of the Dan Rather hagiography, and I’m switching the channel. This grey-background, side-lighting ESPN remembers video style is totally annoying, and makes him seem like a jerk. I’d much rather have seen him interviewed by someone like Bob Schieffer or even Bob Costas, for pete’s sake.”
—Patrick Ruffini:
Tonight, for the first time since September, I watched the CBS Evening News. Afterwards, I even forced myself to watch the primetime special.Watching made it clear to me why Rather is hobbling out of CBS on intellectual crutches. Two in particular were pervasive in tonight’s encomium.>
The Sixties — inclusive of Rather’s Forrest Gump-like appearances in the civil rights drama, Vietnam, and Watergate — were clearly the formative events of his career. And he never left them behind.
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, writes a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.