Thursday, March 17, 2005
"Anchor Away"
"Beyond being awkward and strange, Rather was described as a narcissistic
reporter who made himself the center of every story. Even Walter Cronkite, CBS's
beloved anchor emeritus, joined the anti-Rather chorus, telling The New Yorker's
Auletta that he worried about Rather's 'showboating.' Cronkite also revealed
that he had long ceased to watch Rather, preferring NBC's former anchor Tom
Brokaw instead. Then he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that Bob Schieffer should have
replaced Rather long ago. Ouch."
"Now, I'll accept that much of what Rather's critics have said is true.
(Although I don't believe Rather was guilty of liberal bias, I won't defend his
Memogate decisions, and his occasionally self-pitying attempts to portray
himself as some sort of martyr are pathetic and unseemly. So too was his claim
to the BBC that compared the chilling effect Bush's war on terror was having on
the news media with the 'necklacing' of political dissidents in South Africa.)"
"Did Rather put himself at the center of his stories? Yes. Was he stiff and
uptight? Much of the time. Was he sometimes sentimental and often downright
bizarre? Absolutely. And all of these things made him by far the most enjoyable
network anchor to watch. If you wanted stoicism and predictability, tune in
Jennings or Brokaw. But if you delighted in the frisson of watching someone who
might at any moment completely lose it in front of millions of viewers on live
television, then Dan was your man."
