Here's what I think....

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Dan Rather sues CBS for $70 million

Dan Rather is suing CBS News for $70 million dollars, alleging that they made him a scapegoat for the news story attacking George W. Bush's military service during Vietnam.

The story documented Bush shirking some of his duties when he was with the National Guard and that his commander was pressured to document his service to make it look better than it really was. There was an ensuing controversy over four documents; experts disagreed over their authenticity. The producer of the story and several others were fired, and Dan Rather made a public apology at the time.

The lawsuit alleges that he was forced out, scapegoated, and lied to about his anticipated duties after he was removed from the anchor chair. He was told he would "save 60 minutes II" by becoming a correspondent on the show, when executives knew at the time that the show would be cancelled due to low ratings and they had no intent to "save" it.

When I first heard of the lawsuit, I thought that Rather was off of his rocker. I figured the lawsuit probably had some merit, but not $70 million worth. The breakdown is $20 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages.

I watched Rather on Larry King Live the other night, and my thoughts on the lawsuit have changed. Rather, speaking not as eloquently as he had in the past, yet still getting his point across, spoke of the whitehouse and big business interfering with investigative journalism and how that is against the very foundation of our democracy. He alleges that then owner of CBS, Viacom, was pressured by the whitehouse to condemn the story and spin the alleged "bad" documents to show that the story was false, when the story was most definitely true.

The reason he has brought this lawsuit, over two years later, is because he believes that hard investigative journalism is one of the checks and balances our nation relies on to keep the government in check. He will not take a financial settlement unless he gets a public statement from CBS and Viacom admitting to interfering with the news for financial and political gain. The $70 million will be used (after legal fees and expenses) to fund organizations who support and help young investigative journalists.

He spoke about this with all the passion you see a young college student, fresh and optomistic, speak about the reason our country and democracy is great. He said that because of his age and reputation he has the power to bring about change in an industry that needs it. He spoke about how big business and profit should never, ever influence the content of a news story. A story about the President of our nation, if it is true, should run, no matter how unsettling. If corporate America bent to the Whitehouse when Nixon was president, would we have seen Watergate?

I think it's wonderful that Rather has put himself out there and is using his name and financial power to stand up for what he believes in. He's risking people saying "he's off his rocker" like I did when I first heard of the lawsuit. Hopefully all of you who read this blog will stand up for him, as well. Even if you do not agree with what he's asking, I think the fact that he is trying is inspiring.

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