Rather Breaks 63-Day Boycott

RATHER: There is news tonight worthy of national note in the case of missing person 24-year-old intern Chandra Levy. The young woman disappeared in Washington more than 11 weeks ago and became one of tens of thousands of missing persons across the country. CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart reports on both the status and nature of this widely publicized investigation have changed.
STEWART: Washington's summer-long search for a missing former intern has finally reached a critical junction. Earlier this week, the FBI officially transferred the Chandra Levy investigation to its Cold Case unit, which historically has handled only the toughest of cases which have few clues. [Rest of story]
RATHER: You may want to keep in mind the case remains officially a "missing person" case. No crime has been established, no one has been accused by lawmen--of anything, much less formally charged. No one's been charged with breaking any laws.
--Dan Rather and Jim Stewart on the CBS Evening News, July 18, 2001.

Rather Denounces Press for Levy-Condit Coverage
2001-07-17 21:05:47 PDT

Dan Rather's program, the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, has not reported on the disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy and her relationship with Congressman Gary Condit (D-Calif.). The story has been mentioned by every major publication and television outlet (including the weekend edition of the CBS Evening News.) after it became known that Condit had lied to police investigators. Rather has been criticized by others in the media, such as Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz, who said Rather has "a head-in-the-sand approach. Even Jim Lerher has covered the story." An NBC News executive producer said the story is "absolutely a legitimate story and worthy of the airtime."

Rather has dismissed such arguments, excoriating the news media for their coverage of "the latest rumors and speculation." Below are two radio commentaries from "Rather Reporting" (a regular feature on CBS Radio) in their entirety.

The World Beyond Washington
by Dan Rather

NEW YORK, July 17--While Washington consumes itself, and tries to consume the nation, with gossip and rumor about a missing person's case, perhaps some of the rest of us will want to consider seriously some important news from around the world today, because there are developments that could have far reaching effects on U.S. national security and the future of our children and grandchildren.

Item: Meeting in Moscow. China's president today signed with the Russians what they call a friendship pact, which they say is intended to create “a new international order,” independent of Washington. While saying this is not a military alliance, it does lay the groundwork for that.

Item: The group calling itself Islamic Jihad has set of a bus bomb just outside Israel, causing at least two deaths. Another bomb at the site of the just beginning Israeli Olympics apparently malfunctioned. The Middle East has been teetering on the brink of a new war between Israel and the Palestinians lately. What happens today worsens the situation. Israel is expected to respond by hitting back. Before these developments, President George Bush's father, George Bush, was revealed to have called Saudi Arabia's leader to reassure him that President Bush quote will do the right thing. What that means is unclear. What is clear is that the Middle East situation is extremely dangerous at this moment.

Item: A summit meeting between leaders of Pakistan and India in India ended in disappointed. India and Pakistan are engaged in a low intensity war over the region of Kashmir. It threatens to erupt into something bigger, as it has in years gone by. India and Pakistan now are both nuclear powers. None of this is as titillating as the sex and power gossip now running rampant in Washington. But perhaps someone will want to take notice anyway.

Where's Your President?
by Dan Rather

NEW YORK, July 11--While Washington and much of the nation's radio, television and press and Internet outlets titillate themselves and they hope you, with the latest rumors and speculation about what they believe is a “sexual scandal,” and while President Bush is engaging in New York photo ops aimed at helping himself and his party politically with immigration-conscious voters, especially northeastern Catholics, it may be as good a time as any to ask: why isn't there at least equal attention being paid to what's happening to the world economy? Caution if not outright warning flags are up worldwide.

This on-going and still developing story doesn't sell as well as sex, that's true. The belief that sexy, titillating rumor mill stuff may very well do better for ratings and circulation, in the short term, anyway. But where and when the highest standards are applied to what is important journalism and what is not? Can any reasonable person argue that what's happening with the global economy isn't more important and matters more to Americans from all walks of life?

401K retirement accounts, overall and in general, are losing money for the first time in a long while. The more worrisome side of globalization coming to the front in the world's financial markets, rattled, as the International Herald Tribune puts it, by signs that slowing economies are taking a heavier than expected toll on corporate profits.

Where is your Congress and where is your president on this? Fair questions, as the sexy, titillating stuff and the political trip rolls on.

Save the Children
During the media frenzy over missing children in the 1980s, Lane Vernardos, executive producer of the CBS Evening News came to CBS News president Ed Joyce to tell him about an idea of Rather's:

"I came to see you because the anchorman and the managing editor of The CBS Evening News, the same person we've been discussing, has an idea, and he's very anxious to see this done."

"I'm all ears," I said. "Go ahead."

"He would like to conclude the broadcast each night by showing pictures of missing children."

"You may not believe this," I said, "but Harvey Shepherd made the same suggestion. I told him no. Would you like to know why?"

"I think I'd better take notes," Lane said, "since I will be relaying this to the anchorman."

"The network is on the air twenty-four hours a day," I said. "Twenty-two minutes of that time is allocated to the Evening News. You may use it to cover stories about earthquakes, blood shortages, or missing children. If you start carving up your news hole for appeals for earthquake relief, blood donors, or the return of those children, you'll end up with requests from hundreds of other equally worthwhile causes. That's why the network allots time for public service messages and allocates you your twenty-two minutes to cover the news."
--Ed Joyce in his 1988 book, Prime Times, Bad Times

"I think it was an interesting experiment on the part of Dan's, and understandable. I think that [unintelligible]. I haven't talked to Dan about it at all. But I suspect that what happened was that Dan got tired of this scandal coverage of every story of this nature taking over the newscast, being covered far too fully. Of course, I do think that he went overboard. I mean, he went too far. He could have covered it with a little bit, but just what was needed for the facts--just the facts, ma'am."
--Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite on Today, August 9, 2001.

Tantalizing Packwood Allegations Covered

Despite his downplaying of the Levy-Condit story, Dan Rather found "sex and power gossip" stories more newsworthy when Oregon Senator Bob Packwood, a Republican, was the subject. The day after the Washington Post broke the story, Rather immediately reported it:

DAN RATHER: One of the better-known names in the U.S. Senate is caught up in accusations of sexual harassment. And with a record number of women senators coming into the new Congress, this could be an early test of how much politics in the Senate is destined to change. Chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer has the story.
BOB SCHIEFFER: For Oregon Republican Bob Packwood, the November election was sweet. He won a fifth term after one of his toughest campaigns ever. But suddenly, it has all gone sour over allegations of sexual harassment.
MARY HEFFERNAN (Packwood accuser): It was one incident where the senator in his offices did grab me at the shoulders and kiss me forcefully.
SCHIEFFER: Heffernan was one of 10 women who first told the Washington Post of the allegations. Jean McMahon applied to Packwood for a speech-writing job.
JEAN McMAHON (Packwood accuser): I could tell within five minutes that he was not interested in the speech, and he started chasing me around the table and grabbed me and kissed me. And at that point, I really went into shock.
--Dan Rather and Bob Schieffer on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and Connie Chung, November 23, 1992.

"United States Senator Bob Packwood has checked himself into an alcohol treatment program. The Oregon Republican also hired an attorney in case the Senate Ethics Committee decides to investigate sexual harassment complaints made against him by 10 women. Packwood was just elected to his fifth Senate term. He emphasizes that he will not resign."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and Connie Chung, November 30, 1992.

CONNIE CHUNG: Just last month, Bob Packwood was elected to his fifth term in the US Senate. Now he's facing his toughest political fight yet. The Oregon Republican made his first public appearance today since more than a dozen women accused him of making unwanted sexual advances. Bruce Morton reports on what Senator Packwood said and didn't say.
BRUCE MORTON: Packwood, in his first public appearance since the sexual harassment story broke, apologized.
Sen. BOB PACKWOOD (R-Ore.): My conduct was wrong and I--I apologize for that. My conduct was simply wrong.
MORTON: But it was a limited apology. Packwood would not discuss the specific instances of harassment he's accused of and refused to answer questions about his reported efforts to discredit some of the women who made the charges.
PACKWOOD: I am not going to discuss the issue at all as to how I might characterize their conduct.
MORTON: Packwood said he didn't get it then, but does now. Critics who watched in Oregon weren't buying his refusal to answer those questions.
BETTY ROBERTS (Packwood Opponent): It's his attempt to avoid it. He still doesn't get it, and that's the message. He still doesn't get it.
MARK GARDINER (Oregonians For Ethical Representation): The only way that Bob Packwood can get the trust of the people of Oregon is to resign and run again and let the people of Oregon decide.
PACKWOOD: I have no intention of--of resigning at all.
MORTON: Packwood's supporters point to his good voting record on women's issues.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I agree that his actions were completely inappropriate and wrong, but I think he truly has done a lot for the women's movement.
MORTON: Not enough, though, to persuade Julie Williamson, who says Packwood grabbed at her clothes and kissed her in 1969.
JULIE WILLIAMSON (Packwood Accuser): I believe that this provides the US Senate with an opportunity to show the people of America that even if Bob Packwood doesn't get it, as he says, they do.
--Connie Chung and Bruce Morton on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and Connie Chung, December 10, 1992.
Note: While Chung introduced the story, she and Rather served as co-anchors. Each would take a turn introducing stories. Rather also served as Managing Editor of the Evening News, making him responsible for what stories were covered in each broadcast.

Bush Private Episodes Recounted

Announcing his program's coverage of the alcohol-related arrest of Bush twin daughters, Rather told viewers why he decided to cover the story--apparently because one of the figures involved was making a statement about the story:
"Laura Bush is speaking publicly for the first time about the problems her twin 19-year-old daughters have had with the police. We haven't reported this story on this broadcast. You're hearing about it here for the first time tonight because the first lady has now talked publicly about it for the first time exclusively with CBS News White House correspondent Bill Plante for tomorrow's CBS Early Show."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, June 13, 2001.
Note: This standard would seem to dictate that Rather cover Condit-Levy news since both Condit and Levy's parents had made numerous public statements, including to CBS News.

While Dan Rather has declined to cover the ongoing Condit-Levy story for over two months, he relayed a charge that presidential candidate George W. Bush had been arrested 24 years previously for driving under the influence of alcohol the day after it was first reported on the Fox News Channel:
"We're heading now into the final turn in what could or could not be a photo-finish presidential race. However it goes, what a race. And this weekend, many voters will make up their minds. In these final, perhaps decisive hours, the Bush campaign has been concentrating on explanations following the revelation that the governor kept secret for 24 years an arrest and conviction for driving drunk."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, November 3, 2000. print_file('footer'); ?>