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| Home Front: Politix |
| Liberal Media Monopoly: R.I.P. |
| 2004-09-16 |
| Edited for the conclusion Mr. Rather and his CBS bosses are sticking to their story, despite the growing evidence on the other side, leaving unanswered the biggest question of all: Who perpetrated this apparent fraud on CBS and the American voters? As journalists who sometimes go out on a limb ourselves, we'd have thought Mr. Rather's first recourse would not be to get mad but instead to double- and triple-check his sources. That Mr. Rather isn't disclosing those sources, despite the damage to his reputation, raises the possibility that they are connected to the Democratic Party or the Kerry campaign. If that is true, then Mr. Rather would be revealed not just as a dupe, but also as the willing vehicle for a political dirty trick. In any case, there's no question that CBS is feeling the heat--and that it felt it far more quickly and intensely than it would have 20 years ago. None of this is to suggest that the liberal media are dead, much less that conservatives now dominate the press corps. The traditional media remain important if diminished; liberals are trying to make inroads into talk radio (Air America) and cable news (Al Gore's prospective network), and there is no shortage of left-wing bloggers. All of which is to the good. The Rather episode shows that a competitive media marketplace serves the cause of truth, and does so with impressive speed. It also reminds us of the dangers of arrogance and complacency--temptations from which none of us, regardless of ideology, are immune. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #16 It was only a matter of time before CBS would self destruct. If they really thought that millions of educated Americans bought their BS it explains their stupidity. I think they really thought there sophmiric style of journalism worked. Fortunetly the News caring public doesn't settle for BS. But you can't really blame Dan, because all his friends sing the same tune. It just became his reality. As it turns out the King has no clothes on afterall. |
| Posted by: Steve85308 2004-09-16 6:35:22 PM |
| #15 This could be the final straw that tips the Viacom camel fully into the cable/radio business. You could make a good shareholder value argument that now's a good time to put CBS on the block. Before it loses ninety percent of its market value. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-09-16 5:03:53 PM |
| #14 What 2B said. Redstone's a money guy. The only real value in the CBS News asset is the snob value of the prestigious logo and its legacy. Which are now seriously diminished. I think it's not unlikely that the wall streeters are now being told to run their valuation models and call their contacts in order to put a price tag on the CBS asset. Who knows, maybe Soros would make a play if the price is low enough. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-09-16 5:01:02 PM |
| #13 Dan isn't dead and neither is the Left's hold on the media. We fought the Cold War and defeated the Soviets only to turn on our TV's or go to a schoolboard meeting and realize that Communism-lite is alive and well. Whatever fuels the Communist/Socialist will to power is more like Bela Lugosi in the original Dracula movie. Sure you put a stake in his heart, but he comes back in the same or some other form in a thousand new movies. We need to realize that we need Van Helsings and lots of them. We can't turn our eyes away from evil, be it Islamofacism, Communism or whatever the next coming attraction. |
| Posted by: Sgt.D.T. 2004-09-16 2:27:01 PM |
| #12 Viacom has been extremely hurt by this. "Goodwill" can be given an actual dollar value and the price of CBS' just bottomed out. Considering that the MSM is bleeding revenues and has been for some time, the spectacular loss of "believablity" by the legacy media - combined with changes in technology changing how information is distributed - they can't EVER get back what they just lost. It's gone in one spectacular act of sabotage - poof! It's a MAJOR loss, it goes in the "loss column" and attempts to rebuild it will be met with skepticism, increased risk and massive competition from the new media, who can do it cheaper and better. 60 Minutes and Dan Rather are dead. In his act of suicide, he took a big chunk of Viacom's stock down with him. Only question now is will Viacom cut their losses and move to newer and more profitable ventures, or will they keep putting new bells and whistles on the buggy and try to convince us why it's so much better than those new fangled auto-machines. |
| Posted by: 2B 2004-09-16 11:59:45 AM |
| #11 As Dan "crafted" his questions toward desired responses last night with Killians 86 year old secretery, I could only view her comments as if they were coming from some lady you might find pulling the nickle slots at some casino in Atlantic city. She is probobly a niceold lady, but Dan has tied his credibility to her memory from 35 years ago... Sorry Dan. You can not be believed. |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2004-09-16 11:30:55 AM |
| #10 Anonymous 4021, I wouldn't say nothing, but I think it's just one more fairly large drip in a steady drip, drip that is eroding MSM. In this instance, the effect may be more internal than external and thus less apparent. Heart rates at Viacom have to have increased as they considered downside scenarios of what Gunga Dan could be geting them into. Viacom's in this to make money and GD doesn't. Sumner Redstone doesn't want to hear about Congressional investigations, especially as Congress has a BIG hand in how profitable Viacom's very profitable cable business is. I'll bet the leash tightens on most news organizations as a result. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-09-16 11:27:58 AM |
| #9 I wouldn't celebrate just yet fellas. My greatest fear, is that nothing will come of this. :( |
| Posted by: Anonymous4021 2004-09-16 11:21:05 AM |
| #8 Funny thing is that Dan Rather still acts as though people still believe him. He had a belief that something was wrong with Bush serving in the guard. Unfortunately (for Dan) after many investigations the sum results is a great big goose egg. All the OFFICIAL documents support that Lt. Bush trained, drilled, and was HONORABLY discharged without any incidents. Now we are supposed to look at Kerry’s OFFICIAL record and accept them (nothing detrimental there), but Bush’s records are supposedly sanitized, changed, forged, and incomplete. Now all of a sudden they unearth some silver bullets that confirm all the LLL myths concerning Bush’s service in the Guard. I was in the military and let me tell you that these ‘memos’ were not the way a Commander did business. Commanders DO NOT keep secret files or memos about personnel. First off it is ILLEGAL to keep a secret file on ANY subordinate or anyone else for that matter. Second, Commanders don’t initial official memorandums, they are signed (with the official signature block) . And official ‘Written Order’ would have been signed by both the Commander and Lt Bush. Otherwise how do you know that the Commander did make Lt Bush aware of the order? Killian son alluded to this fact when he was interviewed. Clearly these ‘memo’ were written by some who thinks they know something about military correspondence. Dan was given veggie burger that looked like red meat, I hope he chokes on it! P.S. I hope the Killian family sues CBS for attempting to portray Col Killian as a tool of politicians. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2004-09-16 11:00:58 AM |
| #7 not just cBS but the entire MSM. It's called "goodwill". They chucked the generally accepted belief that what they wrote could be trusted as being factual, albeit biased. NYT, LAT, WAPO, CNN, BBC, NPR now have equal status with respectable bloggers in pjs. |
| Posted by: 2B 2004-09-16 10:03:07 AM |
| #6 We are witnessing the crash and burn of cBS... |
| Posted by: jawa 2004-09-16 9:10:41 AM |
| #5 Ben, yes, he has the best qualifications for a wonderful scapegoat. |
| Posted by: Zarathustra 2004-09-16 6:46:11 AM |
| #4 From what I have heard, Burkett has suffered a nervous breakdown, and either encephilitis, or some other tropical disease he picked up in Panama. He may not be in his right mind. |
| Posted by: Ben 2004-09-16 6:36:57 AM |
| #3 I would attribute it to malice, but attribute its failure to stupidity. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-09-16 12:52:42 AM |
| #2 Old Spook, As you pointed out a day or so ago: We can't ascribe this mess to malice. It was stupidity. The wish is father to the thought. Rather had an agenda that needed supplying and Burkett had the 'goods.' |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-09-16 12:35:10 AM |
| #1 Looking now like it was Burkett in Texas for the source of the documents. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-09-16 12:27:36 AM |