Rather's book tells how his career ended
Journalist Dan Rather attends Nespresso Press Room at the 39th International Emmy Awards at the Hilton New York in Manhattan. (Nov. 21, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
Dan Rather, 80, anchor of "The CBS Evening News" from 1981 to 2005, currently is anchor and editor of "Dan Rather Reports" on HDNet. He's got a new book out -- "Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News" (Grand Central)" -- which is in part a blunt accounting of how his CBS career ended in the wake of a 2004 report on President George W. Bush's Air National Guard service during the Vietnam War, and his subsequent breach of contract lawsuit against CBS and a handful of executives, which the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division dismissed in 2009.
He recently spoke to Newsday about the new book.
You write that Jean [Rather's wife of 55 years] advised against the lawsuit. Why proceed, anyway?
It wasn't easy, [but] it wasn't a contentious conversation at all. Jean wasn't adamant, but her position was on the basis of, it's not a prudent thing to do taking on a huge corporation.
What were your legal expenses, by the way?
I'm not going to say, [but] it cost easily double what I thought it would cost. That's the most I'll say about that, but I feel good about [the lawsuit].
You wrote that your son, Danjack, said you had to sue or you'd never have any peace. Are you at peace now?
I'm as much at peace now, more at peace now, than at any time I can remember in my career. I wrote the book because . . . I think I'm a pretty good storyteller, and I've got some stories to tell . . . and because of what's happened to American journalism -- the corporatization, the trivialization of the news.
Is there anything you would have done differently with the Bush memo story or the lawsuit?
No . . . listen, none of us do anything or rarely do anything with complete perfection, and the practice of journalism is not a pure science.
There's some tough language in the book -- you name names, and blame individuals at the network -- like CBS chief Leslie Moonves for having a "spine of Jell-O."
It pales in comparison to what some of the people said about me at the time. But I have a lot of friends at CBS. I'm always pulling for CBS.
You were pointedly critical of Katie Couric's "Evening News" -- writing "you might even call it News Lite."
It was really [a comment] about Leslie Moonves [who hired her]. He's a terrific person at the entertainment division. Unfortunately, he had a vision of news, if you want to call it that, that was at variance with CBS News' history.
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