Tell Dan Rather you support his fight against the corporate takeover of news.

bleever

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Wed Sep-26-07 10:40 PM
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Tell Dan Rather you support his fight against the corporate takeover of news.

Dan Rather is taking a stand.

We all know that in 2004, Rather reported about George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. How he got in through his father's contacts, despite lacking the kind of qualifications that other men his age needed to even have a chance at getting in. How he consistently got mediocre reviews, until he stopped showing up altogether. How he got plum reassignments, and didn't even show up for those. How he was remembered, by his cohorts and his superiors, as something between a slacker and an outright deserter.

We also know what happened after the report: within hours (minutes?), a right wing blogger had raised questions about the documents, arcane questions about IBM Selectric typewriters of that era and whether they were capable of proportional spacing or superscripts, and how the big media event became the question of whether or not the documents were forged. No one came forth to deny the substance of the story, and yet all eyes were on Dan Rather, and off the deserter who'd been appointed president by the Supreme Court in 2000.

And we know how it ended: Rather apologized, left the anchor chair, spent a little time at 60 Minutes II (where they tried to quash his Abu Ghraib expose), and soon left CBS altogether.

Now he's suing CBS for $70 million. But he's said publicly he would not accept a private financial settlement; he's looking to fix our broken Fourth Estate. And he needs to know we support him.

"I'm not angry, I'm not bitter -- never have been. I'm a reporter � and this is a story." He denounced the "interference, intimidation and manipulation in newsrooms" caused largely by the corporatization and consolidation of news outlets and said that, despite the largely negative response his lawsuit has received in the court of public opinion, "people might come around when they find out what really went on."

http://www.examiner.com/blogs/Yeas_and_Nays/2007/9/26/Rather-chokes-up-and-hunkers-down

And indeed the overall reception in the corporate media has been, to say the least, unkind:

Dan Rather's complaint against CBS and Viacom, its parent company, filed in New York state court on Sept. 19 and seeking $70 million in damages for his wrongful dismissal as "CBS Evening News" anchor, has aroused hoots of derision from a host of commentators. They've said that the former anchor is "sad," "pathetic," "a loser," on an "ego" trip and engaged in a mad gesture "no sane person" would do, and that "no one in his right mind would keep insisting that those phony documents are real and that the Bush National Guard story is true."

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/09/27/dan_rather_suit/

In fact, he's basically on his own:

Rather also grew emotional when he revealed that many of his family members and "people who love me very dearly" had urged him not to file the lawsuit. He ultimately rejected their advice, comparing it to difficult decisions he's made in the past to travel to war zones despite his family's objections. There comes a time, Rather said, when you have to say "it's just time to go." Rather later admitted that "I'm not in this -- mostly -- with anybody else."

http://www.examiner.com/blogs/Yeas_and_Nays/2007/9/26/Rather-chokes-up-and-hunkers-down

If you felt the anger I did in seeing how corporate-owned media (and the Bush administration) used Dan Rather, and the public airwaves, to turn truth on its head at the expense of us all, and if you're as disgusted about how the free press has been bought and paid for by corporations to make sure it no longer acts as the watchdog of democracy, please join me in emailing a message in support of Dan Rather.

I emailed his boss at HDNet, Mark Cuban, about where to email Dan, and this was his reply (with spelling fixed; he was probably on his Blackberry at a Dallas Mavericks game):

I'm sure Dan will really appreciate the support. However, I know that the
best way is not to send Dan emails. He knows how you feel. The best way is
to send them to Cable and Satellite companies saying how much you love Dan
Rather Reports on HDNet. That his work continues to be the best on TV and
you appreciate them supporting Dan.

That is putting it where the money is and sends a message that people care
about what Dan is doing now.

Thanks,

M

Anyone who's seen Rather's recent series on electronic voting machines knows that Mr. Cuban's advice isn't just self-serving promotion of his network.

In addition, writing letters to the editor of your newspaper, and commenting online and to major media outlets about any stories covering the suit will make a difference.

Please post here in support of Dan Rather's suit, and anywhere else that you know it might make a difference. It's about keeping the press, and America, free.