Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr.is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel AXS TV. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9, 1981, to March 9, 2005. He also contributed to CBS's 60 Minutes. Rather became embroiled in controversy about a disputed news report involving President George W. Bush's...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNews Anchor
Date of Birth31 October 1931
CityWharton, TX
CountryUnited States of America
There was a time in South Africa that people would put flaming tires around peoples' necks if they dis-sented. And in some ways the fear is that you will be necklaced here, you will have a flaming tire of lack of patriotism put around your neck. Now it is that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions... And again, I am humbled to say, I do not except myself from this criticism.
Comedians, such as yourself, Jon Stewart and others, are a valuable supplement, and here's why: Good journalism at its best frequently speaks truth to power. What's happened with journalists - again, I don't except myself from this criticism - in some ways we've lost our guts. We need a spine transplant. What's happened is comedians, in their own way, speak truth to power and fill that vacuum that we in journalism have too often left, particularly post 9/11.
Again, general, congratulations on a job wonderfully done!
I made a mistake, ... I didn't dig hard enough, long enough, didn't ask enough of the right questions.
If Mark Felt had not provided information to the Washington Post, I think they would have got away with it.
That's a question you'd have to ask them. But I've moved on from it. And I've done my best to put it behind me. I've taken my licks, taken my shot.
They were willing to speak truth to power.
The public has lost interest. They'd much rather hear about the Robert Blake murder case or what is happening on Wall Street. A feeling is creeping back in that if you lead foreign, you die.
This was great reporting. I think the public should know that great reporting starts with a publisher who has guts and an editor who has guts. And the role of the late Katherine Graham, who owned The Washington Post, is not to be underestimated.
a necessary process to deal with a difficult issue, at the end of which four good people have lost their jobs.
First of all, from where I sit, I am leaving on a high note, ... and a higher note than I deserve and certainly a higher note than I ever thought possible when I walked into this job. Secondly, what's gone on these past few months, it all goes with the territory, as the cliche goes. It's part of the turf, particularly if you're determined to at least try to be an independent reporter. And I understand that very well.
At the core, the red, beating heart of reporting is something with intelligence, something with quality, something that aspires to excellence.
There was a connection between the leadership and the led . . . a sense of, 'we're in this together.
This is a catastrophe, ... 60 Minutes II.