8 of 16

Write now Article Tools

Dan Rathers lawsuit against CBS and others is symptomatic of the problem that the national news people don't seem able to surround and defeat. News is being managed more and more by the people that run the corporations rather than the people who do the analyzing and reporting.
Just this evening, the Bush Administration suffered a stunning defeat in Oregon when a federal judge there knocked the heart out of the Patriot Act. None of the major networks carried even a line about this huge defeat. It makes the networks look as though they have to receive some sort of guidance on what to say in order to follow this late breaking story.

Other parts of the lawsuit are interesting but hardly germane to the first issue reported above. For instance, the $70 Million claimed as damages must have been a number drawn from a hat. Most national network anchor persons make more than that in a year and are wealthy people. Why ask for so little? He allegedly has been pushed out of working his former job for many years and should have claimed all of that, if indeed his reputation was injured to the extent that would preclude his return to this post. That would have been the "real" damages and then the punitive phase of the trial would have determined how much he "suffered".
The lawsuit must have been entered into for the purpose of showing how far the news people have lost their control over what appears on television and what line is taken with stories on nationally known people - like the President! This would be a fine venue for the other nationally known news people to come forth and talk about this issue, but I would not hold my breath til this occurred.
What about the network that claims they are "fair and balanced" and everybody in he world knows they take the conservative side of every story ever told. Their news people make a point of interacting with conservative movements and people to the extent that you wonder how they hold a license for public broadcast.
In this world of national news reporting, opinion and style are ever so important. The anchor people put their reputations on the line each evening. They put forth their version of the days events and trust that the majority of viewers will see it the same way they did. Most of the time it works out quite well. Huntley and Brinkley were two newscasters that I particularly enjoyed. They were masters of controlling the gush of news that was generated when the Democrats and Republicans held their national conventions.
I hope that the airing of these and other related problems will return the media to its core tasks of analyzing and reporting the news. Enough with the manipulation of stories and shading of facts!

Learn more about this author, Fred Tolleson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS casts wider media net?
We want to hear your view. Write now!