Mark Graham for The New York Times
Dan Rather, 72, was in Dallas recently
to coax more viewers to watch "The CBS
Evening News" and the network's local
affiliate, KTVT.
Posted on 11/30/2003 2:34:52 AM PST by Pharmboy
Mark Graham for The New York Times
Dan Rather, 72, was in Dallas recently
to coax more viewers to watch "The CBS
Evening News" and the network's local
affiliate, KTVT.
DALLAS — At lunchtime in a hotel dining room here the other day, Dan Rather stood before a group of car dealers, jewelry store owners and furniture wholesalers, sounding more like a politician on the hustings than the network news anchor he is every weekday evening.
Flanked by images of himself projected on oversized screens, Mr. Rather sang the praises of KTVT, the local CBS station he had come to visit, and to help. "KTVT is hotter than a Laredo parking lot in this market," he told the crowd of advertisers, both actual and prospective.
And while he regaled the audience with some of his favorite homespun sayings — he offered a "tip of the Stetson" to assorted folks — he was also trying to coax a few new viewers to "The CBS Evening News," which has been mired in last place, behind NBC and ABC, for nearly a decade.
That Mr. Rather has been making the rounds of CBS stations — he has traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and Philadelphia in recent weeks — would not, ordinarily, be noteworthy. He has been making such trips, sometimes at a rate of one a month, since he started in the job in 1981. The glad-handing has also been a big part of the jobs of his competitors: Peter Jennings — who this year celebrated both his 65th birthday and 20th anniversary as the sole anchor of "World News Tonight" on ABC — and Tom Brokaw, the anchor of the "NBC Nightly News," who has announced his plans to retire after the 2004 presidential election.
But only Mr. Rather is campaigning just to anchor another day.
At 72, Mr. Rather is eight years older than Walter Cronkite was when he left the CBS anchor desk, and nine years older than Mr. Brokaw is now. Though his hold on one of the most prominent jobs in journalism remains safe for the immediate future, the phone call that Mr. Rather so obviously dreads — the one telling him it is time to step aside — could well come next year, several people inside the network say. In the meantime, Mr. Rather continues to work tirelessly to stave off the inevitable changing of the guard among the network news anchors.
In the last 12 months, among visits to nearly a dozen CBS-owned stations and affiliates, like the trip to KTVT in Dallas on Nov. 21, he has shuttled repeatedly to the Middle East on assignment (five trips to Iraq alone) and filed more than two dozen reports for his second job, on "60 Minutes II."
He worked his contacts skillfully to land an interview with Saddam Hussein preceding the war in Iraq, becoming the only United States journalist to do so. Now, he is pursuing an audience with an equally elusive quarry, Kim Jong Il, the reclusive leader of North Korea.
"I recognize that I am, and we are, in a place where no anchor has ever gone," Mr. Rather said over the roar of a small jet, which he rode to Dallas after his broadcast in New York, not arriving until nearly midnight. "But I love doing it."
"Recognizing I can't be totally objective about it," he added, "I say to myself, `I think I can do the job as good as anybody and maybe better than most.' "
When Mr. Rather was named as Mr. Cronkite's successor, skepticism abounded, even at his own network, that he would last even six months. On the recent flight to Dallas, Mr. Rather volunteered, "In the early going you'd walk into a newsroom and, at least in my mind, it was `He may be good, but he's not Walter Cronkite.' "
Instead, Mr. Rather went on to rank No. 1 in the evening news ratings race for most of the 1980's.
More than two decades later, the news business has changed greatly, as the rise of new competitors on cable and the Internet has shrunk the audiences of the network nightly news. Still, Mr. Rather measures himself against only two yardsticks: Mr. Brokaw and Mr. Jennings.
When he is sitting at the anchor desk during his broadcast, Mr. Rather said, he will sneak periodic glances at monitors tuned to his competitors. After his newscast, he heads to his apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where he will pour his favorite drink — two fingers of Wild Turkey, no ice, no water — and watch replays of Mr. Brokaw and Mr. Jennings, to see how his broadcast measured up.
In the bottom-line calculus of television news — ratings and profits — the answer is not particularly encouraging. Mr. Rather's newscast is not just third, but a distant third. For example, for the week of Nov. 17, Mr. Rather drew an average of 8.1 million viewers nightly, according to Nielsen Media Research. Mr. Brokaw drew 11 million viewers and Mr. Jennings 10.5 million.
Despite his whirlwind of activity, Mr. Rather understands that his future — at least in American living rooms every weekday evening — is ultimately out of his hands, and instead in those of Andrew Heyward, the president of CBS News. "I have no illusions," Mr. Rather said. "The second he thinks there's somebody who can do it better, I'll be out of there, and I ought to be."
Mr. Heyward, a former executive producer of "The Evening News" who first worked with Mr. Rather more than two decades ago, said he did not want to comment on the future.
"We have announced no timetable for a transition," Mr Heyward said in an interview. "When that day comes, and we're not speculating on when that will be, I'm confident Dan and I will work on that together."
"Dan is going to be at CBS News for many years to come," he said. "No matter what, he would make a transition to some combination of `60 Minutes' and `60 Minutes II.' "
For all the emotions in play, including the contention by some on the right that Mr. Rather is too liberal, any move to replace him could ultimately be a business decision, aimed at capturing more viewers in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic. (Each of the network broadcasts is still estimated to generate $100 million or more in annual advertising revenue.)
"I think the consensus of the affiliate body is that when the right time comes, CBS News is well prepared to name a successor for Rather, with a lot of good talent on the bench," said Bob Lee, the president of WDBJ in Roanoke, Va., and the chairman of the CBS affiliate board.
While saying he was enthusiastic about the reporters most frequently mentioned as potential successors — including John Roberts, the network's chief White House correspondent, and Scott Pelley, a correspondent on "60 Minutes II" — Mr. Lee said that holding off such a decision could only serve to season them.
"To my knowledge, no one is pushing for that to happen right way," Mr. Lee said. "Nor does anyone believe that would catapult the evening news into second or first place."
In deciding when to make a move, executives at CBS, which is owned by Viacom, must weigh several variables. Arguing in Mr. Rather's favor is that his ratings, however low, have largely held steady since last year. And if left in place, he might even gain ground after Mr. Brokaw yields his chair to Brian Williams. On the other hand, going up against Mr. Williams early on might be of benefit to Mr. Rather's successor, as well.
Mr. Rather may not be the favorite on television, where he can come off as tense and remote. But there is no doubting the connection he has among younger reporters and producers as well as the public, in settings where his emotions (laughter, and surprisingly, lots of tears) are given free rein.
Arriving at the station in Dallas after 10 a.m. — nearly 40 years to the day when Mr. Rather, then a CBS correspondent in the Southwest covering President John F. Kennedy's visit to Dallas, gave witness to the events that followed — he poured coffee in a plastic cup and then walked around the newsroom for nearly an hour.
"What are you working on?" Mr. Rather, who had as mentors such legendary CBS broadcasters as Eric Sevareid, asked Jack Fink.
Mr. Fink, a 35-year-old reporter, described a forthcoming piece about the potential for terrorists to conceal bombs in cellphones and laptop computers.
"I don't want to step on toes," Mr. Rather said, "but if you've got a copy of your script, I'd love to see it."
Mr. Fink looked stunned.
Indeed, Mr. Rather was so disarming that Tom Doerr, the station's news director, could needle him about strengthening the lead-in that "The CBS Evening News," which is broadcast here at 5:30, provides for the station's 6 p.m. local newscast. Both are ranked No. 3 here.
"We're really counting on you," Mr. Doerr said.
"Actually, we're counting on you!" Mr. Rather said, before needling Mr. Doerr about the lead-in that the national broadcast receives from an earlier local newscast.
Later, at the advertisers' lunch, Mr. Rather shook nearly every hand and was almost playful at times.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're in awe," one woman said.
Said Mr. Rather, "I bet you tell that to all the reporters."
After having his photo taken with Mr. Rather, J. Wesley Harrison, president of Allen Samuels Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Fort Worth, said he felt proud to advertise on a station associated with him.
"His casual, conversation-type speech, that's something you don't see when you watch him do the newscast," Mr. Harrison said.
Asked about Mr. Rather's age, Mr. Harrison, who is 10 years his junior, said he had no qualms.
"It's all right," he said. "He still can communicate."
This article represents--in my mind--the NY Times at its worst. This is a puff piece, an editorial disguised as journalism by Mr. Steinberg, and a great example of the reason the Paper of (an awful) Record is losing ground big time. Dreadful.
I'm probably going to get flamed for this . . .
Ha! You could say the same thing about Kucinich.
You deserve a severe toasting!
But due to the curteousness of your FR page, we'll keep the safety on. This time. :)
I dunno...I try to be a bit more discerning about whom I like.
This Dan Rather?
"This race is shakier than cafeteria jello."
"Hotter than a NY elevator in August."
Turn the lights down, the party just got wilder."
"This race is as tight as the rusted lug nuts on a 57 Ford."
What a stranger.
When my Dad died, I kind of mentally "adopted" a man of about Dad's age who was a member (now deceased) of our church who had a remote resemblance to him in height, weight, and hairline. So I can certainly relate to what you are saying.However, your first impression was correct, as I think you now know. You hated it because of the topic selection--always about bad things happening or about to happen. Journalism is institutionalized worry. When it's not outright false, another thing. But if you were my child in 1975, you would have gotten the same sort of exposure, because we are all subjected to the propaganda barrage that "the news" is "important."
Took me a long time to even begin to see through the con. Which I analyze in this thread:
Why Broadcast Journalism isI now treat journalism as a commercial for something I wouldn't buy.
Unnecessary and Illegitimate
Well done--your whole post, that is.
IMHO, CBS hasn't had a good news anchor since the days of Robert Trout.
I know that really dates me, but too bad!
"The CBS Evening News," which has been mired in last place, behind NBC and ABC, for nearly a decade.10 years in last place? How dumb is that?
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