Posted on 09/02/2010 5:26:35 AM PDT by abb
Longtime CBS News broadcaster Dan Rather came to The Poynter Institute this week to talk about what it was like to cover some of the world's biggest stories throughout the past half-century.
I sat down with him to hear his thoughts on the state of the news industry and how to improve it. Rather shared his take on the untold stories in politics; the effectiveness of sites that fact-check the news; and the ways in which his experience with bloggers during the Killian documents controversy still shapes his view of them today.
Big businesses' negative impact on political news coverage
Spacer Spacer Corner Tab RELATED Corner Tab Spacer Spacer You can read a full transcript of the interview here.
Rather: 'If we'd had spell check back then I'd still be in the newspaper business' Spacer Spacer Rather, who is now anchor and managing editor of HDNet's "Dan Rather Reports," said too much of today's political coverage is reduced to horse-race reporting and public opinion polling. Such polls are valuable to the extent that they can provide a snapshot of a given moment, he said, but that moment changes.
The 78-year-old advocated for deeper investigative reporting that looks at the money involved in politics, and he suggested that journalists ask: "Who is giving what to whom, expecting to get what?"
'"The public is not well-served by political coverage as it is today," said Rather, who did not exclude himself from this criticism. "In many important ways, very big business is in bed with big government and whoever's in power in Washington, whether it be Republicans or Democrats ... and this seriously affects news coverage."
Too often, he said, political coverage is governed by the large corporate entities that own news organizations and that don't always have the public's best interest in mind.
"An independent, a truly independent and truly free press, a fiercely independent but necessary press," Rather said, "is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy, and it's absolutely essential to our system."
Political fact-checking sites need to expand reach
Rather said he doesn't think PolitiFact and other efforts to fact-check political news reach a wide enough audience, despite efforts to expand. Still, he applauds them.
"This is what every good newspaper, every television station, every network ought to be doing. But in so many cases -- it's not unanimous, there are some exceptions -- but by and large, this is not what they do," Rather said. "So often, particularly covering politics, enterprises that describe themselves as journalistic enterprises, and journalists who describe themselves as journalists, in fact just become transmission belts."
He said journalists can quickly become transcribers who simply write down what they hear without asking tough questions, partly out of fear that they'll seem unpatriotic.
Leading up to the Iraq war, most journalists blindly accepted the government's statements without checking to see if the information matched up with the facts, he said. (There were some exceptions, Rather said, such as McClatchy's Washington bureau, which didn't accept the Bush administration's claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.)
"What happened in the run-up to the Iraq war is that the administration of that time commanded the narrative, and the press bought that narrative," Rather said. "And this led to, by any reasonable objective analysis, a strategic blunder of historic proportions."
"Highly partisan, political" nature of the blogosphere
Rather has acknowledged that he never realized the power of bloggers until after he reported the infamous story about the Jerry B. Killian documents that criticized Bush's service in the Army National Guard. At the time, conservative bloggers questioned whether the documents were falsified and began a debate about it online. No one has yet to prove the authenticity of the documents.
Rather said the Killian controversy shows how the blogosphere lacks accountability and can be used for "highly partisan, political and ideological purposes." He stood by his belief that, despite what all the bloggers said at the time, the Killian story was true.
"It was true then, it's true now, and evidence of that is neither the president nor anyone close around him, so far as I know, (and I think I would know if they had), has ever denied the narrative of the story," Rather said. "I don't seek to go over this ground all over again, but I do think it's important to point out that the story was true, and for those who didn't like the story, for their partisan, political, or ideological reasons, that's the reason they had to attack it so fiercely and, as it turned out, so effectively, I'm sorry to say."
Need for new business models to replace old one
Despite the growing influence of online news, Rather said he still thinks we're in the early stages of the Internet's potential. He called for more original, shoe-leather reporting on the Internet and less aggregated content, particularly when it comes to international and investigative coverage.
The old business model for news is crumbling, he said, and the Internet has not yet risen in its place. He's said before that he wishes President Barack Obama would form a commission to help save journalism jobs and establish new business models.
"In the past when we've had these crises, for the automobile business, for the early stages of the microchip business, for the steel business and what have you, it's not that unusual for the president to call together the best minds and say we may or may not have the government intervene," Rather said. "I thought it would be a good idea for him to call together some of the brightest people in the country, including those in journalism but not confined to that, and say, let's see what we can do."
The idea has not gone anywhere, and Rather said he doesn't think it will anytime soon.
Social media is "increasingly important" in politics
Twitterers criticized Rather earlier this year for making what some believed to be a racially-charged comment about Obama's efforts to get health care legislation passed. Rather later responded to the buzz on Twitter, saying, "Much of what we tweet, or post, or chat away at under the guise of news, are distractions."
Rather told me he's since found that, in general, social networking sites can be an important tool for journalists.
"I think it's increasingly important in politics and in business and in personal relationships to have these so-called social media. And I think there'll be more of them, not fewer," he said. "Some of them will go by the wayside. Twitter is the big thing now. Who knows what's going to be post-Twitter."
Though Rather has both a Twitter and Facebook account for "Dan Rather Reports," he said he doesn't spend much time updating them because he'd rather be doing what he likes best -- being out in the field reporting.
ping
Not quite, Dan. How 'bout TRUTH checker?
Not quite, Dan. How 'bout TRUTH checker?
The pot calling the kettle.........?
He’s STILL angry about being exposed as the liar he is, and trying to smear ex-POTUS Bush’s Nat’l Guard record.
What a pathetic loser. Dan, get a hobby. Try knitting perhaps.
--sure, needs a czar of a commission that could be in charge of "false, but accurate" news---
He should go back to his Dacha and dissappear.
Old fossil still yearns to be a gatekeeper.
Wants all those bloggers to get off of “his” news lawn.
Of course, its really a public news park, and he really needs to lay off the sauce, take a bath, and wash his clothes.
http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=189974
Rather: ‘If we’d had spell check back then I’d still be in the newspaper business’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/01/AR2010090105987.html
Twitter breaks story on Discovery Channel gunman James Lee
http://thenextweb.com/media/2010/09/01/tbd-director-not-satisfied-with-how-washington-post-used-its-video-feed-during-discovery-hostage-standoff/
TBD director not satisfied with how Washington Post used its video feed during Discovery hostage standoff
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/456632-Markey_Calls_For_HIll_Bill_Or_Third_Way_.php
Markey Calls For HIll Bill Or ‘Third Way’
Net Neutrality fan registers concerns about specialized services and mobile broadband carve-out
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/generalities/_nielsen_29_million_watched_obama_iraq_address_172506.asp
Nielsen: 29 Million Watched Obama Iraq Address
Viewership was down -9% compared to his last address in June about the Gulf oil spill, and down 28% from his December 2009 address on his strategy for Afghanistan.
Poor Dan, he just can’t deal with his irrelevance nor with the fact that his entire career was a lie. He should take up golf or do some charity work.
They all do, MrEdd. That galls them most of all. More than the layoffs, the pay cuts and the newspaper closings. Their loss of power and prestige has them unhinged.
More like out standing in a field reading cue cards in front of a camera to shaft someone he doesn't like.
All of the msm laments the fact that citizens now have other sources to research at the speed of light and that the public will no longer swallow their LIES hook, line and sinker.
I have in my ‘to read’ pile of books “The Camera Never Blinks” and “The Camera Never Blinks Twice.” The books he wrote back when it mattered what he said or wrote...
But someone did prove they weren't authentic.
Not forgery! FABRICATION!!
Forgery implies the existence of an original document, signature etc.
Fabrication-making something up that has no basis in fact.
Rather and his ilk detest Blog sites-they can be challenged and questioned almost immediately after their stories and they don’t like that.
Good lord, abb. Where to start?
First he talks about media blindly buying Bush’s WMD narrative, then says he still believes the Killian hoax narrative, despite hard evidence.
While discussing “highly partisan, political and ideological purposes,” he suggests government intervention in media.
“The old business model for news is crumbling, he said, and the Internet has not yet risen in its place. He’s said before that he wishes President Barack Obama would form a commission to help save journalism jobs and establish new business models.”
Typical lib, accuse others of what they are doing themselves.
I have seen Rather’s investigative reporting and it leaves a lot to be desired. Who cares what this already exposed as a liar thinks.
His credibility is NILL.
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