Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew,
When I bit off, more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up, and spit it out.
I faced it all, and I stood tall,
And did it my way.
Francois, Anka, Sinatra, 1969He was preceded by some of the greatest names in journalism dating back to World War II.
Edward R. Murrow, Howard K. Smith, Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Eric Sevareid, Ernie Pyle, Richard C. Hottelet and William Shirer.
“He has been an eyewitness to the most important events for more than 40 years and played a crucial role in keeping the American public informed about those events and their larger significance,” Leslie Moonves, chairman of CBS said in a statement released two weeks ago.
And after 24 years to the day, on March 9, 2005, Dan Rather, anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News, brought his tenure there to an end.
Rather will not be retiring, but is staying on at CBS, where he will be working full time as a correspondent for 60 Minutes as well as other assignments.
In a press release, Rather said that he had been lucky and blessed over the years to have the best job in the world and to have it at CBS.
“Along the way, I’ve had the honor of working with some of the most talented, dedicated professionals in the world,” Rather said, “and I’m appreciative of the opportunity to continue doing so in the years ahead.”
Looking back at the career of Rather, one comes away with a sense that he did indeed earn the title of “the hardest working man in broadcast journalism.”
I’ll not deny the fact that over the past year I’ve taken out after Rather on more than one occasion, and questioned his journalistic ethics as an effort to advance his own agenda, but today’s viewpoint has one sole purpose, and that is to pay tribute to a professional journalist.
And make no mistake – Rather’s live television coverage of hurricanes will never be surpassed, as he showed America the powerful and brute force of nature.
As a CBS correspondent in Dallas during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, his earnest presence helped to guarantee a confidence that all Americans were desperately in need of.
In a one-hour prime-time tribute last week, “Dan Rather: A Reporter Remembers,” CBS aired a clip of Rather reporting from Vietnam in 1965. This film footage was never shown at the request of Rather, simply because he believed that reporting on the war was more important than what he did that day.
Rather, with no regard for his own safety, assisted in attending to a wounded American soldier, and then proceeded to help transport him to a medevac chopper, while holding a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
Having been in Vietnam in 1966-67, and fully cognizant of the perils of war, Rather’s actions that day exemplifies the true character of the man.
Rather became one of the most recognizable figures covering national and international news.
He showed us the ugliness and true hatred found in the south during the civil rights movement, the violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago during the turbulent 60’s, Watergate and Nixon, the war in Afghanistan, the Iran-contra affair, Tiananmen Square in 1989, Bosnia, Sept. 11, 2001, the war in Iraq and the first national election in that country.
There was nothing artificial about his front line reporting, and he always asked the right questions at the right time.
Susan Zirinsky, an executive producer at CBS, said in an online Associated Press story that Rather had always “been an equal opportunity questioner.”
Rather is a native Texan, and has never been apologetic for adding that “Texas flair” to his newscasts either.
Browsing through his memorable sayings, one can’t help but see the humor, and even if they may sound a bit “folksy,” they were definitely original.
“This race is as tight as rusted lug nuts on a ’55 Ford,” Rather said concerning the 2000 presidential election.
For his work in broadcast journalism, Rather won numerous Emmy Awards as well as the coveted Peabody Award.
Rather has been called “a man in pursuit of a story.” Not a bad example for all journalists to follow, while remembering that there is no such thing as a bad assignment.
Rather signed off by telling Americans to have “Courage, and that coming into their homes for the past 24 years had been a privilege and one that was not taken lightly.”
And as a journalist in pursuit of a story, and feeling obligated to examine other network dictums, plus having the courage to admit that one’s judgment is periodically obscured by the proffering rhetoric and prejudicial views from the likes of FOX News, I submit to my readers, the following sleazy tactic.
FOX News, the self-proclaimed fair and balanced network, along with the help of Hannity and Colmes, had the impudent nerve to interview Bernard Goldberg at 9 p.m. immediately following the CBS Special.
Goldberg is a former CBS News reporter who bit the hand that fed him, and has been involved in an ongoing “feud” with Rather since 1996.
Goldberg, the author of Bias and Arrogance, claims that “the media is guilty of distorting the news,” and “has ignored their primary mission of objective and disinterested reporting.”
Fair and balanced? I submit to you that the finger of bias and arrogance be pointed directly at FOX News.
So where does the average American find news that’s not slanted in one direction or the other?
For starters, read more than one newspaper daily and watch more than one network news broadcast.
Even locally, the mayor of Johnson City, Pete Paduch, believes that the Johnson City Press is biased and “out to get him.”
As a journalist for the East Tennessean and having no ax to grind with the mayor, I too find him somewhat arrogant and disrespectful to say the least.
And lest we forget, when the mayor was introduced at a recent ETSU basketball game, he was roundly booed. Well, so much for media bias Pete.
I understand that more than 8 million viewers tuned in last week to watch Rather’s final newscast, giving CBS News a well-deserved No. 1 rating for that evening.
Incidentally, that’s 6 million more viewers than Bill O’Reilly garnered.
Congratulations Dan. Thanks for doing it “Your Way.”
And that’s the news, both good and bad. I’m Larry French.

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