Dan Rather Slams Press Coverage Of War And Corporate News

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Dan Rather addressed the 2008 National Conference On Media Reform in Minneapolis on Saturday, where he warned of the dangers of corporate media ownership. Rather told the crowd:

Now, I have spent my entire life in for-profit news, and I happen to think that it does not have to be this way. I have worked for news owners who, while they may have regarded their news divisions as an occasional irritant, chose to turn that irritant into a pearl of public trust. But today, sadly, it seems that the conglomerates that have control over some of the biggest pieces of this public trust would just as soon spit that irritant out.

So what does this mean for us tonight, and what is to be done?

It means that we need to be on the alert for where, when, and how our news media bows to undue government influence. And you need to let news organizations know, in no uncertain terms, that you won't stand for it...that you, as news consumers, are capable of exerting pressure of your own.

It means that we need to continue to let our government know that, when it comes to media consolidation, enough is enough. Too few voices are dominating, homogenizing, and marginalizing the news. We need to demand that the American people get something in exchange for the use of airwaves that belong, after all, to the people.

It means that we need to ensure that the Internet, where free speech reigns and where journalism does not have to pass through a corporate filter... remains free.

We need to say, loud and clear, that we don't want big corporations enjoying preferred access to - or government acting as the gatekeeper for - this unique platform for independent journalism.

Watch Rather's address below:

Comments

[dadw5boys]

Bush got even with Dan Rather for all the coverage of the Silverado Savings and Loan Scandel.

Dan Rather stayed on top of it.

He reported that Daddy Bush removed the investigators and all the EVIDENCE AGAINST G.W. BUSH AND NEIL BUSH AND MARVIN BUSH JUST DISAPPEARED.

When the new investogators were assigned 3 months later there was littl evidence on anyone.

[NTO08]

I never understood the shit Dan dealt with...fro­m the time he had a shouting match with George Pere on the news, they were out to get him.

[KOisGod]

Thanks Dan,

If you hadn't been shown the door, and still on the payroll, you'd be defending or even doling out more corporate crap from your CBS chair.

Its not that you are brave, and exposing something while in their employ, no, you've woken up and regret you're no longer an insider.

[NTO08]

I doubt it.

[Gabrielle]

watch Bill Moyers at the Free Press conference last night
send the video to all your friends and ennemies

http://www.freepress.net/node/41309

[AnnieinOR]

thanks Gabrielle for that link. will send this link to many.

[lovethesinner]

Moyers and Rather are the keepers of the flame. They are absolutely right:

No free press, no democracy.

Obama is all on-top of NET NEUTRALITY. (As well as building a saturated broad-band, nation wide.)

Japan has fiber optics for $12 per month. How long do you think America is going to be able to compete with that kind of access?

Obama-Webb '08 (Warner, Kaine, and Montana Gov. Schweitzer look good too)

[The5thW]

There was something when I grew up, to go with the theme of nostalgia evident here, called the 5th W. If the only thing new in this world is the history you haven't read, then what is news? The Founders valued free press because the state's purpose as educator was a given. Without it, you only have information, not knowledge. No amount of information will help an uneducated person. Until we get that, all this concern for media content is meaningless. NO EDUCATED PERSON WAS FOOLED BY THIS WAR.

[mystic]

Hillary Clinton was/is educated. But she marched in lockstep with the regime.Ide­alism is what I think you mean. Obama, JFK were idealists. Evil people, Hitler, Bush, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz et al were all educated. Obama wasn't fooled by the war because he is an idealist.

[NTO08]

Idealism is nice in abstract, but it rarely wins anyone the White House...

[userw014]

The naive part of me wants to cheer Mr. Rather on. Hold those corporate weasels' feet to the fire! Make them accountable! Yeehaw!

But then I recall where I get my news. NPR (Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Talk of the Nation.) Local NPR affiliates (WEMU, WUOM, and WKAR-FM.) The Economist (even if their corporate bent makes me grind my teeth at times, at least it's honest and open.) A local newspaper (The Ann Arbor News). Websites like here, The Register, Slashdot, etc. I don't even watch PBS news. How am I going to hold the corporate weasels' feet to the fire if I'm not ever going back to their product?

It's too late.

The last I watched network TV was in the early 90s, and they left me. CBS lost it's affiliate in the SE Michigan market to Fox News. I watched WDIV/Channel 4/NBC affiliate for the late night news for a while, but then I became a parent and didn't have time to waste on car crashes, drug deals gone bad, and things like that that simply didn't affect me.

Except for the local NPR affiliates, there's not even any local radio anymore. Clear Channel ate them all up, and is now wondering why the market has gone sour. (Poor Mommy Spider ate all her babies and now she cries because she's alone -- Where is that quote from?)

The corporate weasels have fouled the nest.

[iseebs]

Trust me, It is not the naive part of you that wants to cheer Mr. Rather.
It is the part of you that does not want to be manipulated, brainwashed or even enslaved.
It is your consciousness that wants to do something about it.

[european]

At leas the Economist is free of neocon drivel.

It may be a bit Reaganesq at times but does not sink to the level of the WSJ and its likudnik staff.

[NTO08]

Likudnik..­.what does THAT mean...doe­s it mean their JEWISH staff?
Just want to know what the anti-Semitic code of the week is...
I hate the WSJ, but I don't attribute it to the ethnicity of their staff, as seems to be the repellent implication here.

[We]

Remember when Dan was the only journalist to interview Saddam in Iraq in one of his Palaces just before the invasion?

Saddam proposed a live debate with Bush to be broadcast globally. As an alternative to war.

Bush was/remains deeply dirty and Saddam had the proof. And yes nobody denies that Saddam was a psychopath, but he was supported/enabled by a series of US administrations.

When captured, Saddam was interrogated solely by a newbie intelligence officer. 60 Minutes took the angle that the officer was brilliant. But obviously they picked the guy who knew the least. 60 Minutes really really sucks now.

Anyone have that pre-war Rather/Hussein CBS footage?

[Cloud7Raymaker]

Had the MSM actually done their jobs the greater US public may have understood that Saddam was a product of the environment he was in. It took someone like Saddam to to hold such an unstable country together. It annoys me to no end that we have created an environment there that is arguably worse than it was before (I don't recall massive numbers of refugees fleeing into nearby countries before we arrived).

Meanwhile the MSM & the Republican leaders & supporters continue to spin just how wonderful things are over there now that we've taken over - 5 years & counting. Network/Cable news outlets are pretty much worthless as sources of information. Amazing that the Liberal bloggers had the Iraq story correct from the start, and as has been mentioned here, the truth was available for those that were willing to investigate the story without a right-wing­/corporate slant.

[NTO08]

It is curious that some dictators manage to control some countries from sinking into chaos...no excuse for their tactics, ever, but it has happened..­.look at Tito before Yugoslavia's break up and what transpired after the fall of Communism. No one can say that what followed was good.

[dadw5boys]

Yeah a cage fight instead of war.

[msfiskvletterman]

6/8/08
7:40pm
Eugene, OR

Great speech.

[captainraymerica]

This is a question more than a comment. About 18 years ago I was a journalism major studying the ethics of journalism and fact checking and corroborating sources and such. My question is do they even teach such things in the universities any more? Or to they teach the value of infotainment? I became a communications major in disgust when the dean of students at the time forced my editor to put the kibosh on a story i was writing that was detrimental to the schools image. It was a valuable lesson to learn and also took the last vestiges of my free press idealism and made me wonder then as I do to a much greater degree today, why does anybody believe anything that comes from the mouths and minds of these banana republic puppets? Anyway if anyone is still reading this and knows about the state of journalism education and the ethics therein a response would be appreciated.

[NTO08]

I too had the cynicism you did instilled in me actually by a journalism instructor at Columbia, who just so happened to be a copy editor for the NY Times...th­is guy was the worst speller I had ever seen...fro­m then on, I knew that the once impeccably edited Grey Lady was headed for a huge fall...

[cseper]

Fox News Producer Ambushes Bill Moyers; Gets Taste Of His Own Medicine


Click on:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/08/fox-news-producer-ambushes-bill-moyers-gets-taste-of-his-own-medicine/

[rudyinbama]

Great piece - thanks for the link!

[jewel4Obama]

WOW!!! thanks, I need a cigarette after that!!!

[GrainOSand]

It approaches being that good.

[GrainOSand]

Superb!

[ChartreuseMuse]

You go Dan!

I dearly hope we hear much more news from the Conference on Media Reform just wrapping up in Minneapolis. But of course, I suspect that the vast majority of folks, even on this erudite site, have heard zilch, and were blissfully ignorant of its existence, even though a presidential candidate was in attendance.

That's the crux of the problem, especially in the midst of an election, where we are only fed the craziness of preachers, lapel pins, misbehaving supporters, what Michelle Obama wore vs. Cindy McCain, ugh. And now on CNN, "did the media push Hillary Clinton out of contention!"

Keep our media free. Support non-profit onlines like the San Diego Voice, the MinnPost.com and the new Albuquerque TRIB online.

[PrinceHal]

Hmmm. Some self-appointed "experts" here coming down on Dan Rather like a ton of bricks.

What exactly is on their narrow minds, I wonder?

[Wiredwilly]

Articulate speech by Rather. Retaining Internet Neutrality is THE issue of our Time.

[PhiloVance]

Dan never saw a paycheck he didn't like. Wot a twit.

[Diana]

I'm sorry, your disagreement with Rather is...? Be specific. 'Twit' is not a valid objection. Why don't you go peddle your nonsense someplace else

[tsloan]

Using generic smear terms really does not cut it anymore...­.however..­..having said that....I wish to call you a troll

[tsloan]

since the huffpost tags comments when the tro$$ word is used....ho­w bout trogolodyte.

[gurukalehuru]

How about sweetroll - to kill them with kindness

[MariaLisa]

I will do my part, Dan!