Dan Rather

Not a Parody: Robert Redford to Star as Dan Rather in 'Truth'
By Scott Whitlock | July 9, 2014 | 4:45 PM EDT

You can't make this stuff up: Liberal actor Robert Redford has signed on to play Dan Rather in a film biography entitled Truth. The movie will be an adaption of Mary Mapes's book, Truth and Duty: The Press, The President, and The Privilege of Power. Both Rather and Mapes were forced out after using fake documents in a story for CBS attacking then-President George W. Bush. 

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie "centers on the firestorm that erupted after Rather reported that George W. Bush had gotten to serve in the National Guard in order to avoid the Vietnam War." Although Rather may be pleased with the big screen adaption, Redford wasn't his first choice. According to the September 2, 1990 Boston Herald, he offered this head scratcher: "The best person to star in the movie of my life is: Arsenio Hall." 

Salon: 'Notorious Pro-Military War Hawk' Lara Logan's High Profile on CBS News a Gift to Angry Conservatives
By Tom Johnson | May 8, 2014 | 9:01 PM EDT

In a Tuesday column for Salon, Heather Digby Parton argued that the Dan Rather Memogate scandal had a sequel of sorts, in which CBS News, attempting to "appease the right wing" -- including the Bush administration -- gave "notorious pro-military war hawk" Lara Logan a prominent role in its programming, only to have it blow up in their faces when Logan's "60 Minutes" story about the Benghazi attack proved seriously flawed.   

In Parton's view, Rather at CBS had "a stellar career of war reporting, muckraking and speaking truth to power" and now, on Mark Cuban's AXS TV, "does some really interesting work," though she acknowledges that "only a handful of people see" it.

Dan Rather Defends Fox News Against Charge It's a GOP ‘Propaganda Machine’
By Randy Hall | January 18, 2014 | 3:09 PM EST

Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes an interview during the 30-minute Politicking With Larry King program on Thursday night in which the long-time interviewer asked his guest, Dan Rather: “Do you ever think the thought that Fox News Channel is an actual part of the Republican Party?”

The veteran newsman paused for a moment before responding that the claim “goes too far” even though network founder Roger Ailes has used the channel to benefit the GOP. However, “is it a sole operative and propaganda machine for the party? I'd have to stop short of that.”

Dan Rather on Memogate: ‘No Question The Story Was True’
By Noel Sheppard | December 10, 2013 | 1:04 AM EST

Former CBS Evening News Anchor Dan Rather, despite being fired as a result of the bogus story, continues to maintain that he got it right in September 2004 when he aired forged documents concerning George W. Bush’s record with the Air National Guard.

On CNN’s Piers Morgan Live Monday, Rather said, “No question the story was true” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

ABC and Dan Rather Perpetuate Myth Right Wing Hate Killed Kennedy
By Brent Baker | November 18, 2013 | 8:32 AM EST

Lee Harvey Oswald was far-left defector to the Soviet Union, but you’d never know that from Sunday’s ABC This Week which focused on Dallas as a cauldron of segregationist hate for President Kennedy without any mention of the political orientation of the actual assassin.

Using Dan Rather as his expert, ex-CBS and current ABC reporter Byron Pitts perpetuated the myth that right-wing hate was somehow responsible for what occurred in Dallas: “Nowhere in Texas did the jagged edge of segregation cut deeper, anti-Kennedy sentiment spew any stronger. This flyer [“Wanted for Treason”] greeted the President when he arrived.”

Dan Rather Skipped in CBS JFK Specials? 'No Loss,' Writes Former CBS Producer
By Tim Graham | November 8, 2013 | 9:53 PM EST

CBS wouldn’t invite Dan Rather to remember the JFK assassination for its 2013 anniversary coverage. “No loss,” said former CBS producer Michael Rosenblum in a guest column at The Hollywood Reporter. Rosenblum was Robert Pierpoint’s producer at “Sunday Morning.”

“As Rather was not invited to participate in the 50th anniversary, Bob Pierpoint was not invited to participate in the 25th anniversary,” despite being at the center of the story that dark day in Dallas for CBS. Someone sitting in the anchor chair in 1988 was an egotistical jerk, brushing his colleague out of CBS history's frame.

Dan Rather Whines to AP About Being Excluded from CBS JFK Specials -- After He Sued Them
By Tim Graham | November 5, 2013 | 11:30 AM EST

AP media reporter David Bauder seems shocked that CBS would exclude Dan Rather from their gaudy 50th anniversary coverage of JFK’s assassination, “further proof of the lingering bitterness following Rather's messy exit and subsequent lawsuit against the network.”

The same man who thinks he’s never been wrong about the phony documents he launched against George W. Bush announced "I held off doing anything for anybody else for a while, thinking I may be asked to do something (for CBS)...I can't say I had any reason for that hope.” Rather’s delusional enough to think CBS can’t put a dent in his golden reputation with the American people:

Rather: Wendy Davis Likely to Lose, But 'Let Her Rip' at 'Hardcore Conservative' Abbott
By Matthew Balan | October 8, 2013 | 3:56 PM EDT

On Friday's Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, Dan Rather poured cold water on Wendy Davis' chances of winning the Texas gubernatorial race, but maintained a glimmer of hope: "I'm not predicting she'll win. If you have to bet the trailer money, you bet she loses. But overnight's a long time in politics – a week is forever – and we're talking about an election that doesn't happen [until] a year from now. So, let her rip."

Rather and Rachel Maddow also hyped the supposed extent of Davis' likely Republican opponent, Greg Abbott. After the MSNBC host labeled Abbott a "hardcore conservative," the former CBS anchor replied that the Texas Republican is "so far to the right...that he makes Rick Perry look like a liberal and Ted Cruz look like a moderate." [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

Flashback Video: Uncomfortable Journalists Being Asked If They Committed Adultery
By Scott Whitlock | June 7, 2013 | 2:00 PM EDT

 

In case you haven't heard, the Media Research Center is moving. Starting June 10, the MRC (which publishes NewsBusters) will be located in Reston, Virginia. As we prepare for the move, we've discovered old, unseen gems. During the 1992 presidential campaign, George H.W. Bush was asked whether he had ever been unfaithful to Mrs. Bush. Tom Sherwood, a local journalist for NBC's Washington affiliate, cornered Dan Rather, Charles Kuralt and Tim Russert at the Republican National Convention in Houston. He turned the tables on his fellow reporters, quizzing them about possible affairs.

An awkward Rather first shot back, "You been asking this to Tom Brokaw, have you?" After Sherwood demanded, "Have you ever committed adultery," Rather retorted, "Have you?" Following another pause, the then-CBS Evening News anchor clumsily concluded, "Mmm. Well, thank you very much. Pleased to see you." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Video: Bozell, Hannity Amused That Obama Sycophant Chris Matthews Worried Obama's White House Filled with Yes-Men
By Ken Shepherd | May 17, 2013 | 11:30 AM EDT

NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell and Fox News host Sean Hannity kicked off the "Media Mash" segment of the May 16 Hannity with a deliciously ironic clip of Hardball host Chris Matthews lamenting on his Tuesday program that President Obama is surrounded by adoring yes-men who can't bear to tell him bad news, and that that culture of groupthink leaves the president prone to embarrassing scandals. "A little irony there?! I couldn't resist! I had to start with that," Hannity said suppressing laughter. "Okay, a sycophant who's in awe and in love with Barack Obama. Chris Matthews, call your office," Bozell quipped, adding, "This is the man who spits to tell us how much Obama's the perfect man."

Also discussed on Thursday's "Media Mash" was former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather's carping on Thursday's MSNBC program Morning Joe about how Republicans were capitalizing on Obama scandals. [watch the full "Media Mash" segment below the page break]

Dan Rather Tells of Getting Burglarized, Leaves Out That He Grabbed His Gun
By Jack Coleman | May 16, 2013 | 2:59 PM EDT

Sometimes it's what they neglect to mention that's more revealing than that was.

Disgraced former CBS anchorman Dan Rather, now broadcasting from obscure AXS TV on the high triple-digit end of the cable dial, told Rachel Maddow of an incident back when he was a reporter devoted to hounding Richard Nixon. (Video after page break).

Bob Schieffer Spins Obama Scandals: White House Not Like Nixon's, Which Had Burglars and Bomb Plots
By Matthew Balan | May 16, 2013 | 1:48 PM EDT

Thursday's CBS This Morning did its best to shift blame away from President Obama on the IRS, Justice Department, and Benghazi scandals currently surrounding his administration. Bob Schieffer shot down comparisons to the Watergate scandal that led to former President Richard Nixon's resignation: "This is not the Nixon administration, where you had burglars and people talking about blowing up the Brookings Institution. This is more of a case – is anybody home?" [audio available here; video below the jump]

Anchor Charlie Rose seconded Schieffer's assessment, asserting that the President "seems like a bystander in his own government." He later stated that "the President has to take control of his own government."