Posted on 09/19/2007 12:30:52 PM PDT by abb
Dan Rather, whose career at CBS News ground to an inglorious end 15 months ago over his role in an unsubstantiated report questioning President Bush’s Vietnam-era National Guard service, filed a $70 million lawsuit this afternoon against the network, its corporate parent and three of his former superiors.
Mr. Rather, 75, asserts that the network violated his contract by giving him insufficient airtime on “60 Minutes” after forcing him to step down as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in March 2005. He also contends that the network committed fraud by commissioning a “biased” and incomplete investigation of the flawed Guard broadcast and, in the process, “seriously damaged his reputation.” As plaintiffs, the suit names CBS and its chief executive, Leslie Moonves; Viacom and its chief executive, Sumner Redstone; and Andrew Heyward, the former president of CBS News.
In the suit, filed this afternoon in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Mr. Rather charges that CBS and its executives made him “a scapegoat” in an attempt “to pacify the White House,” though the formal complaint presents virtually no direct evidence to that effect. To buttress this claim, Mr. Rather quotes the executive who oversaw his regular segment on CBS Radio, telling Mr. Rather in November 2004 that he was losing that slot, effective immediately, because of “pressure from ‘the right wing.’ ”
He also continues to take vehement issue with the appointment by CBS of Richard Thornburgh, an attorney general in the administration of the elder President Bush, as one of the two outside panelists given the job of reviewing how the disputed broadcast had been prepared.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Soon Dan will be videotaped wrestling with CBS Security and screaming “DON’T TAZE ME MAN!”
Posted by Howlin to hole_n_one
On News/Activism 04/22/2007 5:11:32 AM EDT · 1,634 of 18,392
ROFLMAO!
Most recent Post....... ???
“Does this open the door for Rather to be questioned on his methods of “research” and “confirmation” and “sources” in the TANG story?”
Yeah, lots of interesting subplots to this one. It’ll be interesting just to see how the MSM plays this one. Probably only covered on Fox. They’ll find some moonbat to take Dan’s side. Colmes isn’t going to know whether sh*t or wind his watch - to borrow a phrase.
“Soon Dan will be videotaped wrestling with CBS Security and screaming “DON’T TAZE ME MAN!””
“BRO”, “Don’t taze me, bro”. It’s only been a day for Pete’s sake.
Kenneth? That you?
“This should be fun to see how and if CBS decides to defend itself.”
Well, don’t that just dip your hat in the creek.
The lawsuit is going to sweep through CBS/Viacom like a Texas tornado on a hot summer afternoon...
This lawsuit is as thin as a bar of soap after five days washin’.
Sure, the jury can find that CBS violated Dandy Boy’s contract and award Dummy Danny $0.02.
....better than sex.
RED on RED. Brings to mind the Soviets fighting the Nazis or Iran-Iraq. Or Colts-Cowboys.
Ok, I haven’t seen this yet.......It’s Bush’s fault.
Our news reader started making up the news, was an embarrasment to CBS and had to be dismissed. Because of his long service to CBS, we tried to handle the matter in a manner that would permit Mr. Rather to save face. We have been repaid for our kindness with this meritless lawsuit. Our countersuit is being drafted.
CBS
A refresher on CBS findings from Michelle Malkin:
Going back to the Thornburgh report, I remind you of two telling, key phrases: “Myopic zeal.” “Rigid and blind.”
And a refresher on the top 10 news-gathering and news-vetting failures identified by the panel:
1. The failure to obtain clear authentication of any of the Killian documents from any document examiner;
2. The false statement in the September 8 Segment that an expert had authenticated the Killian documents when all he had done was authenticate one signature from one document used in the Segment;
3. The failure of 60 Minutes Wednesday management to scrutinize the publicly available, and at times controversial, background of the source of the documents, retired Texas Army National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Bill Burkett;
4. The failure to find and interview the individual who was understood at the outset to be Lieutenant Colonel Burkett’s source of the Killian documents, and thus to establish the chain of custody;
5. The failure to establish a basis for the statement in the Segment that the documents “were taken from Colonel Killian’s personal files”;
6. The failure to develop adequate corroboration to support the statements in the Killian documents and to carefully compare the Killian documents to official TexANG records, which would have identified, at a minimum, notable inconsistencies in content and format;
7. The failure to interview a range of former National Guardsmen who served with Lieutenant Colonel Killian and who had different perspectives about the documents;
8. The misleading impression conveyed in the Segment that Lieutenant Strong had authenticated the content of the documents when he did not have the personal knowledge to do so;
9. The failure to have a vetting process capable of dealing effectively with the production speed, significance and sensitivity of the Segment; and
10. The telephone call prior to the Segment’s airing by the producer of the Segment to a senior campaign official of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry - a clear conflict of interest - that created the appearance of a political bias.
Myopic zeal. Rigid and blind.
The more things change, the more Dan Rather stays the same.
Yes.
I doubt that CBS even has $70 million at this point.
They should counter-sue Rather, claiming that he faked the TANG report, and brought disrepute on the network.
Popcorn!
I love liberal on liberal attacks. Who is making the popcorn?
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