Rather Files $70 Million Lawsuit Against CBS

Source: NY Times

Dan Rather, whose career at CBS News ground to an inglorious end 15 months ago over his role in an unsubstantiated report questioning President Bush’s Vietnam-era National Guard service, filed a $70 million lawsuit this afternoon against the network, its corporate parent and three of his former superiors.

Mr. Rather, 75, asserts that the network violated his contract by giving him insufficient airtime on “60 Minutes” after forcing him to step down as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in March 2005. He also contends that the network committed fraud by commissioning a “biased” and incomplete investigation of the flawed Guard broadcast and, in the process, “seriously damaged his reputation.” As plaintiffs, the suit names CBS and its chief executive, Leslie Moonves; Viacom and its chief executive, Sumner Redstone; and Andrew Heyward, the former president of CBS News.

In the suit, filed this afternoon in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Mr. Rather charges that CBS and its executives made him “a scapegoat” in an attempt “to pacify the White House,” though the formal complaint presents virtually no direct evidence to that effect. To buttress this claim, Mr. Rather quotes the executive who oversaw his regular segment on CBS Radio, telling Mr. Rather in November 2004 that he was losing that slot, effective immediately, because of “pressure from ‘the right wing.’ ”

He also continues to take vehement issue with the appointment by CBS of Richard Thornburgh, an attorney general in the administration of the elder President Bush, as one of the two outside panelists given the job of reviewing how the disputed broadcast had been prepared.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/business/media/19cnd-...

Should have been $100 million at least.

Back in 1998, 2 Fox TV reporters in Florida (Tampa Affiliate) sued Fox
network for firing them after they refused to broadcast false reports
about Monsanto's controversial genetically engineered Bovine Growth
Hormone (rBGH or rBST).

It made it all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled,
unbelievably, that Fox network does not have to broadcast true stories.

David Boylan, station manager, was blunt in demanding that the reporters
tell the story about rBGH the way Monsanto wanted it told.
"We (the Fox TV network) paid $3 billion for these television stations.
We will decide what the news is. The news is what we tell you it is."

So the reporters, lost their jobs and their case.

http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/fox.html

The only thing that suprises me is how long it took Dan to start the suit, it not to hard to figure out, the right wing has been after Dan, since Nixon.

or he wouldn't be doing this.

"We (the Fox TV network) paid $3 billion for these television stations.
We will decide what the news is. The news is what we tell you it is."

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1426

that just keeps on giving.

So, now how to 'lovingly' serve up the 'fruit' of 'the people unite',

that there may be "Dancing in the Streets!"?

the FCC is suppose to work for us.
They grant licenses to corporations to use OUR airwaves.
They should be obligated to use them for the public good.
If they are caught lying, they should be fined.
Get caught lying too many times (subjective or even an objective
number) you lose your license.

The Florida Supreme court can make any ruling they want, but the
FCC should have stepped in, and defended the publics right to
truth in broadcasting.

Read this: http://consumerist.com/consumer/bgh/fox-news-reporters-... But I very seriously doubt that CBS will use that in their defense!

Compared to many of his more courageous predecessors, Dan Rather seems like a moral midget. But compared to all those other Talking Rectums, ............................ Go Dan, GO!!

pnorman

Well, pretty much all we've got at the moment for truth-telling and debunking the Press Corpse lies are Media Matters and Keith Olbermann, and occasionally a very tiny mouse peep from Editor & Publisher. And various corners of the blogosphere and such refreshing oasis spots as this one here. That's about IT.

Glad you're here! We can use all the help we can get.

And then adds more for the owners' personal wealth aside.

obedient ceo's at CBS.

Am I wrong or is this not brilliant timing. Puts the AWOL story back in the news at a very inconvenient time for Jr. and now his little freepaholic friends who uncovered the 'typeface' debunk don't like little Lord Bushyboy anymore.

in the action.

Bush would piss himself if he was there and somebody slammed a car door too hard.

IIRC, it said that he was removed from flight status because he had crashed two F102s on landing. The Air Force, even the Air National Guard, don't like losing costly airplanes. The crash investigation report said that he was clearly afraid of flying and should not be in command of fighter aircraft in the future.

IMO, the story about his missing his flight physical was nothing but a cover for this. What, a President of the US and Air Force pilot officer who was afraid of flying? How embarrassing! But it certainly fits with the rest of the story of his life, the pampered frat boy who never succeeded in anything he started.

I'm embarrassed that this village idiot was appointed to office. I blame the Extreme Court for all our problems now.

Vague recollection about one crash, but not the comments --
Think you're right about the missing flight physical as cover up.
I presume that Rather knows all of this . . . !!!

back before they were scrubbed. I saw copies on a link. The guy was offering a $1000 to anyone who could report he showed up in Alabama or wherever it was he went campaigning.

Hadn't heard the crash stories before though..

This might lead to some interesting places. I am envisioning a renewed investigation with airtime. And in fact, maybe even impeachment? Am I dreaming???


Suddenly I'm realizing how this is kind of like the OJ thing.

If the defendant has something to hide, or (in this case) if an ancillary party has heretofore undocumented dirt.

Let the games begin.

Time to eat Crow joe!

he's thinking..so he says he's too old. bush just lies to get the soldiers to go to their deaths and he sits back and rides his tricycle.

And -- he's right!!! They won't --

saw the light?

That'll be the day.

Anyway, I'm not sure anything will come of this - as far as him winning (fraid I'm a little cynical by now), and I wish he would have pursued this sooner. But I'm with him ALL THE WAY. I love Dan Rather. He's been a thorn in the side of the bad guys for decades. They were gunning for him FOREVER, and wound up fouling him on a technicality (kinda like they did with Clinton, oddly enough). I've been a fan of Gunga Dan's for a long, long time. I hope TO GOD he wins his case. It truly would be justice, of the first order. Dan Rather got ROYALLY screwed. And the sad part is, typefaces or no, the secretary who typed the memo was on the air, interviewed by Rather, and confirming that while that piece of paper might not have been the ACTUAL paper of the memo, what was written on it was what she had once typed. And of course, THAT little fact got completely swallowed up by the shrieking and roaring.

Makes me wonder - WHY THE HELL CAN'T WE SHRIEK AND ROAR AND KICK UP A HISSYFIT??? Why do OUR people always have to be so "above it all" - taking the so-called "high road" all the time? The quiet, understated "above it all" doesn't get you anywhere anymore. Just look at what happened to John Kerry. It's the fussy, cranky babies who get the attention and score the points. Which is why I'm glad MoveOn.org spoke up about David Petraeus, and why they're STILL hitting back as rudy tries to pile on. That's what we ALL have to do. HIT BACK. AND HIT BACK HARD.

Keep fighting, Dan. We're with you. We always were. Because you told the truth in that report, and in everything else you ever covered.

GO DAN. Or would you Rather your news be screened by hannity and limbaugh?

GO DAN!!!

Maybe even get the boy king on the witness stand to answer some questions about what really went on. A perfect "perjury trap".

Nah, I realize that won't happen but all this stuff will get talked about again and since it's Rather suing, it will probably get some coverage in the corporate media.

Just the kind of publicity the chimp doesn't need right now.

In fact, many news types should fight to keep this in the forefront, as they could just as easily have been caught in that trap.

Go, Dan!

We've got your back!

all the wonderful years of great journalism..too bad there are too few of you great journalists left!!

I miss you !

and i salute your service to this nation in truth!

fly

Know how Rather got his start? He was the only reporter allowed to view the Zapruder tape all those years ago and after viewing it he said Kennedy was stop from the back and that he was thrown foward. He lied and his lie became apparent when others were allowed to view the film, but no matter, Rather was skyrocketed into journalistic fame.

You'll have to forgive me for not liking Rather so much.

and his repoerting and i respect the hell out of him..he had guts where others ( like little lord pissy pants and cheney didn't ) to go to the war zone and duck real live bullets to bring us the facts of the war.

fly

big difference.


the only links I could find on this were from conspiracy theory websites so forgive me for not attacking him for an otherwise stellar career based on what I found online.

apparently don't know the difference between a lie, an opinion, and a miistake, and call them all lies.

Stupid people really piss me off.

don't know the difference between an opinion (theirs), an interpretation (theirs again), and a fact. But nevertheless, what you said is true.

Rather got his start during Hurricane Carla, when, as a reporter for the local CBS affiliate, he was the first to stand on the beach in Galveston recording how hurricane-force winds tear apart our man-made world. For Kennedy's assassination, he just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and made the right decision, and he became CBS' man-on-the-spot when history was made. Then, as a DU'er notes below, he was fearless enough to report from the jungles of Vietnam with bullets flying around his head. Did the same in Afghanistan (leading to the memorable Doonesbury character "Gunga Dan") As far as I'm concerned, he's The Real Deal, and I sincerely hope he wins his case against CBS and their buddies in the Chimpy McFlightsuit camp.

When Dan Rather departed the Big Network journalism scene, the only one left worth his salt was Bob Schieffer. They're both great for "speaking truth to power".

--THB

Carla came in and we knew Dan from KTRK (I think it was KTRK) and we all felt proud when this coverage zoomed him into national attention.

sounds rather fishy to me....

on edit - oops - sorry! I didn't realize Ammonium had already been called out

There was some quote (by I think Walter Cronkite) that Dan Rather was up to his @$$ in alligators to report the storm.

It got him noticed by CBS.

Then he was the one to (unintentionally) break the story that Kennedy was dead. Read his memoir, THE CAMERA NEVER BLINKS.

n/t

n/t

I think you meant to direct it to someone else. The OP didn't trash Mr. Rather.

Not for what you wrote, he was young good looking one of the hardest working reporters of the time, it was reported that not many reporters could stay with him where working was concerned, he would work night and day, Dan Rather came from a working family and valued his job.

Way back when he drank the government's kool-aid in re JFK and the Warren Commission. He later admitted this, but about 40 fucking years too late.

His lawsuit has about as much chance of winning as Westmoreland's suit against CBS.

including some other things --
He was a notorious liberal according to the right wing --
but I never thought of him that way -- those liberal leanings only stirred very infrequently as far as I could see.

Have to agree that his challenge to Poppy Bush was great, but I think, again, it backfired on Rather??

Also, I've heard that Rather owned or still owns some property that Rumsfeld is involved with?
A ranch, perhaps?

Re the JFK/Zapruder thing -- some have suggested that Rather was shown something which suggested shot from the rear -- but I don't see how that could be -- and I don't think he's ever tried to clear that up.

I can only think intense FEAR in the MSM which has probably existed a long time before the public picked up awareness of it. Very intimidating and aggressive political activity in America -- with violence and assassinations, of course.

This had to have been visible to elected officials and journalists LONG before it has become obvious to public.

with rumsfeld.

and i never looked at it that way before. thanks

I keep hoping some open-minded network (are there any?) will pick him up. I miss him and all the other true journalists who are now gone.

I read that Thornburg report, and Rather had already done some self-censorship like cutting a bit with David Hackworth on what he thinks of military posers (Hackworth made a point of going after people who claimed to have served in the military and in combat who hadn't, particularly if they claimed they earned decorations they didn't.

to lie about Valerie Plame's covert status w/o retraction. If you can't trust the content-why watch it.

I wish Mr Rather the best of luck. I would love to see a BIG win for him.

I hope it's all dug up and exposed to sunlight, before this is over.

Dan Bartlett knew for certain the documents were forged and let CBS swallow the hook on the story. I don't believe the White House was behind forging the documents but once they saw Rather had a bogus story they concocted a plan to discredit Rather and get rid of Rather once and for all.

CBS never did go after the White House for their role in the story. Nobody did. CBS caved to pressure and cut Rather loose. A few subpoenas could bring the truth to light.

Only one document was bogus.

The actual deal to keep Bushie boy out of VietNam is real.

I had heard that the bogus document was planted to make the whole story look bogus.

that Rather's report was true. If it was, then the White House didn't plot to get rid of Rather.

Bush's Dad kept Junior out of Iraq but Rather's story went beyond that.

There is extensive evidence that documents used by 60 Minutes II were forged, and also that details of Rather's story couldn't possibly be true. An example is a general referred to in one of the memos who retired over a year before the memo was written.

The only evidence in favor of the 60 Minutes documents being real were the assertions (which changed under questioning) of Bill Burkett. Bill Burkett has zero credibility.

The White House knew the story was bogus so they let Rather go with it. Meanwhile, they planned a big ker-pow from the net and the right wing against Rather.

The White House got away with it because the righties didn't care what was true as long as they could get Dan Rather, and the left locked into a view that the story about Bush's guard service had to be true, so refused to believe that the White House let Rather swallow the hook.

Katie needs something to do.

story, while the AWOL Chimp skated away virtually untouched.
Go Dan!

and shows them to be the gutless panders they have become, can he possibly go on to John Hindacker, and Charles Johnson who obviously had inside info.


Go Dan

Best news all week

mud with bullets flying around his head with the forward troops, then this is no surprise. go, dan!

for refusing to air the 60 Minutes segment on Bush's guard service.

Good for Rather. I hope he gets the whole 70 million.

Haven't bothered with the network since this travesty. Not that there's anything worth watching on CBS to begin with.

In times like these,
Dan Rather would be the man to listen to, he would tell the truth...heck, the republicans hated Dan and have been after him since Tricky Dickie NIxon.

I thought they did air it, and then backed away from it after the document scandal broke.

K&R

And isn't there a statute of limitations?

statute of limitations is here......that and more than a few other things.

I doubt Dan Rather would hire some ignorant loser who had no clue about statutes.

But it sounds like Dan Rather is gunning for bear. With bush* at 29% approval, he definitely has the wind at his back on a story like this. Good luck, Dan!

He had credibility and experience like no one since Walter Cronkite. NOW the real story about the draft-dodging chicken hawk will come out. K&R!

Edited for spelling & to add kick.

The bastids.

dimson's military duty again, or lack thereof.

Wonder if his fired producer (Mary Mapes) will file also, along with the other two staff members.

Hope to see a lot of people under oath.

This is a good thing.

"Strong arm me will ya...well in Texas we have a saying....."

The report For which Mr Rather got himself in deep doo doo was not an unsubstantiated report.

MAry Mapes, who was the first reporter to bring us the news that something fishy was going on at Abu Gharib, was his producer at Sixty Minutes II.

Mapes, who worked for CBS with Rather as her boss, spent FIVE YEARS, researching material related to the story that George W had gone AWOL.

FIVE YEARS

The only reason that the report is found to be unsubstantiated is that insiders to the Bush Evil Empire were put in place as a "news team" evaluating the piece.

They came up with ten or so reputed "gross mistakes" all of which could be refuted - except of course, in America we do not have the type of investigative reporting that ever uncovers the inner connections that the evaluators have to the Powers that Be on any given matter.

He was fired for airing an "unsubstantiated report", yet during the time that Rather was demoted & working for "60 Minutes", they refused to give him editing services:



Anyone remember Ed Asner's show "Lou Grant" being canceled after his political activism? Same thing happened to "WKRP in Cincinnati" on the same day due to the fact that Howard Hesseman joined Asner:

They just don't make them like Dan any more! Pity.

If you are old enough to remember the Smothers Brothers Show, you would know that CBS has been unbearable for a looooong time.


(edited for typo)

I hope he gives 'em HELL for what the did to him!

Received the Peabody awards in spring of 2005.

This award is considered to be the highest of journalism awards in the USA.

It was given for the work involved in bringing the torturous conditions at Abu Gharib to light.

<http://www.gosimpsons.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idProduc... >

That's what he gets for screwing over Star Trek and foisting all manner of crap reality shows on the world.

and manages to take down AWOL Junior while he`s at it.

http://www.awolbush.com/

Delicious.

It's more to be happy about.

Yay!

We should send him some support. Letters? Flowers?

Does anyone have contact info for Dan?

maybe you could make your comments to him through this.

http://www.hd.net/feedback.html?refPage=danrather

I imagine he'd appreciate the support. I'm off to offer my feedback!

too bad he couldn't put in his lawsuit how cbs tried to throw the election by covering up for fuckhead!

Go get 'em, Mr. Rather!

CBS better hope I'm not on that jury.

Dan Rather / Poppy Bush Smackdown!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiFE1f4-zRA

Book 'em, Danno!

Proof of propaganda. Thank you Dan Rather! This is what I've thought all along. The American people have come to despise Bush with only half the info provided. Imagine if they had something close to the truth.

I hope he finds some way to get some right wingers deposed and testifying in open court.

I wonder if CBS will settle it, though. It might be in their best interest.

No bribe "settlement" just to shut him up.

He's standing up for himself and what he believes, he's standing up for the ideal of journalism as a check on lies and crimes, even when they are being hidden by the most powerful.

He's being a hero.

K & R

because why should they kill the messenger as he is not responcible for the content of the message compiled by others that paid no price. It was a setup to get rid of a voice that advocates for the people and what's right and not the rightwing idea of what's right.

My favorite Rather quote. He was covering the Clinton/Bush ('92) election when it looked like Clinton was going to win.

Glad to see a fighting Liberal int he media now and then-I'll take 'em where I can get 'em!!

I guess I have to take back everything I said about him "caving"- GO DAN!!!

Good for him!

even distantly related to his firing. I hope he drags old KKKarl in the mud so bad that there's not enough water on this planet to wash it all off. I hope Chimpy's military record becomes front page news everyday for a month.

How much will CBS give him to shut up

Mr. Smith goes to Washington, Mr. Rather goes to New York City. They each in their own way fight for all of the rest of us.

GO, DAN, GO!

in a related story, senator craig is going to sue the minneapolis airport for making him gay

Remember that? Rather got the shit kicked out of him in front of a restaurant he had just walked out of...I'm writing from memory here...didn't the assailant turn out to be a mental patient or something? According to the trustworthy corporate media? Hmmmmm....

I guess I'm putting on my conspiracy hat here, but that memory just flashed into my mind....watch your back, Dan. Err on the side of caution...and Bravo. Give 'em HELL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_the_Frequency%2C_...


Easy mistake to make.

Thank you, Dan for your courage and integrity!

I take it back. From this point on, one has to get through Dr Fate before he lays a finger on good old Dan.