CBS News (CBS Sunday Morning more specifically) did a profile and interview of their former Evening News anchor who has for the last few years made claims like this without any pangs of self-awareness at all:
"How do we, as a profession, find the signals of truth amidst the noise of disinformation and propaganda?" I’ve been thinking about this and the role of the press at this time. For those who may have missed my latest #steady notes, I wanted to share again:https://t.co/1wxL9LftS7
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) February 1, 2021
"The noise of disinformation and propaganda"? That's some Godzilla-sized projection coming from the "journalist" who has become known as the Godfather of Fake News.
When Rather talks about rooting out "disinformation" he's the embodiment of this meme:
The CBS Sunday Morning piece promotion for the Rather profile did a laughable job of glossing over the reason he lost his job:
Recommended
“Controversial Moments” is one way to put having been such a complete failure as a journalist and an absolute partisan hack, I suppose https://t.co/F1F57Wzv0V pic.twitter.com/CJifgt3RX3
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) April 28, 2024
Seriously? Yep:
Almost 20 years since Dan Rather, 92, left "CBS Evening News" after 44 years, of covering wars, politics, and JFK's assassination, he talks with former mentee Lee Cowan. Rather discusses his career, including controversial moments, and his post-CBS years. https://t.co/gpJppsaU9P pic.twitter.com/o8i1dqGawN
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) April 28, 2024
One of those "controversial moments" was nothing short of attempted election interference, not that CBS News will frame it that way:
I started shouting at the tv when they described the "controversy" as "documents we were unable to verify" instead of "forgeries designed to swing a presidential election".
— Bo Seppenfield (@BoSeppenfield) April 28, 2024
Other networks are doing their best to soften what happened. This is ABC News' report on Rather's return to CBS for the interview:
Dan Rather returned to the CBS News airwaves for the first time since his bitter exit 18 years ago, appearing in a reflective interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” days before the debut of a Netflix documentary on the 92-year-old newsman's life.
After 44 years at the network, 24 as anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” Rather left under a cloud following a botched investigation into then-President George W. Bush's military record. Rather signed off as anchor for the last time on March 9, 2005, and exited the network when his contract ended 15 months later.
"Botched investigation" is being more than generous. If similar documents existed at the time about Bush's opponent Al Gore they would have been deemed too sketchy for broadcast.
Let me check my updated and woke thesaurus to see if “controversial” is the same as “unethical” now.
— Bleu Cheque (@VERBAL_CHANCLA) April 28, 2024
He knowingly used forged documents to push his agenda.
Are you gonna mention that time he presented fake documents in an attempt to interfere with a presidential election or nah?
— (((Aaron Walker))) (@AaronWorthing) April 28, 2024
Or how he refused to honestly deal with the controversy that followed? https://t.co/7EZjsanC7y
They consider that an unfortunate blip on an otherwise stellar career so they'll give Dan a pass for that one.
Others in the field of "journalism" don't see anything laughable about how CBS framed the story:
Once a reporter, always a reporter. Carry on, Dan, carry on! https://t.co/wpnW5yuGAG
— Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) April 28, 2024
The fact that Rather is still idolized by so many in the field of "journalism" speaks volumes, and none of those volumes are good.
