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[Ripclawe]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=496&u=/ap/20041002/ap_on_en_tv/rather_anchors_2&printer=1

Brokaw blasted what he called an attempt to "demonize" CBS and Rather on the Internet, where complaints about the report first surfaced. He said the criticism "goes well beyond any factual information."


"What I think is highly inappropriate is what going on across the Internet, a kind of political jihad ... that is quite outrageous," the NBC anchor said at a panel on which all three men spoke.

I shall issue the fatwa to make it official then!

 

[Dan]

What, are we supposed to respect him instead? C'mon, they made a 'mistake', intentionally or unintentionally, and then tried to defend and hide it for a couple weeks. I don't think people should just idly let something like that slide, no matter who it's targeting or done by.

 

[MetatronM]

I'm sure neither of you have ever said or done something that you continued to assert was correct or good far longer than you should have before acknowledging your error.

I'm not trying to defend Rather or CBS' decisions, but the whole Rather business is starting to get a bit out of hand. He got his public humiliation. He got his credibility and reputation tainted. What else do you want? Can we move on now and deal with things of actual importance, as opposed to what Dan Rather said a month ago and how he is such a bad man?

 

[Dan]

I'm sure neither of you have ever said or done something that you continued to assert was correct or good far longer than you should have before acknowledging your error.

Maybe, but I'm a journalist with a national following. There's a fucking difference.

I'm not trying to defend Rather or CBS' decisions, but the whole Rather business is starting to get a bit out of hand. He got his public humiliation. He got his credibility and reputation tainted. What else do you want? Can we move on now and deal with things of actual importance, as opposed to what Dan Rather said a month ago and how he is such a bad man?

I don't think Rather has to say anything more, and I'd love to move on. But that article seems to indicate that Brokaw thinks it unreasonable for such a mistake to ever even be made into a issue, as if journalistic mistakes should juts be shrugged off as a necessary part of the job. I don't think it's unfair to call these people on those mistakes and make sure they're corrected. It seems to be approaching the argument that Kevin Smith made about Jersey Girl being critic-proof, because it was made for other kinds of people. It's like they're saying the public shouldn't be upset over such errors because they don't fully understand the industry.

 

[Ripclawe]

I'm sure neither of you have ever said or done something that you continued to assert was correct or good far longer than you should have before acknowledging your error

But being a member of big media, the position Rather is in and the fact this is not the first time he has done a story like this, his 1988 CBS documentary called "The Wall within" was even worse than this in terms of flat out lies. The responsibility he has is to put out factual stories, given his history, and the fact he kept defending the story trying to keep a lie going, he is being held accountable.

IF the next day when people started to bring up questions he said, "we will check into it and see if the questions being raised have something behind it" CBS would never be in the position they are in now.

He got his public humiliation. He got his credibility and reputation tainted. What else do you want?

Early retirement.

 

[Nerevar]

Early retirement.

Don't be ridiculous. Entertainment (and make no mistake about it, taht's what the news is) is just like professional sports. The more popular and famous you are, the more you are allowed to get away with. It's the same with Rather. If he was some 2-bit reporter, he'd be fired. But he's not. So expecting him to be treated the same is ridiculous.

 

[snapty00]

Yeah, it really depends on his history. If he has a continual history of this, then that's a problem. Otherwise, a mistake is a mistake, and all you can really ask for is an apology and a committment not to do it again.

 

[teiresias]

Early retirement.

Then you should want the same for Bush as well. The false intelligence is more of less the same situation.

 

[sc0la]

EDIT:
entire comic can be viewed at http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2004/09/27/tomo/index1.html

I love how ripclawe wants a guy with obvious bias to retire, even though there are just as many with an obvious bias that spout his viewpoint that are okay.

 

[Smidget]

I'm a youngin' so I didn't know too much about Dan Rather but my dad told me after we were listening to some REM in the car to look up the meaning behind "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and I stumbled upon this website all about Dan Rather's weirdness....

 

[Mr. E. Yis]

Then you should want the same for Bush as well. The false intelligence is more of less the same situation.

Amen. But the thing is, Bush is in an even worse situation, because of all of the lives lost because of the false intelligence.

Ripclawe owned.

 

[Dilbert]

Then you should want the same for Bush as well. The false intelligence is more of less the same situation.

Ex-fucking-actly.

 

[sprsk]

Ex-fucking-actly.

Yes ripclawe, where were you when bush was getting nailed for this? I think dan rathers fuck up is quite minor compared to ol' busycakes' fuck up.

 

[Hitokage]

Yes ripclawe, where were you when bush was getting nailed for this? I think dan rathers fuck up is quite minor compared to ol' busycakes' fuck up.

You don't get it. It's not Bush's fault for sticking up for flawed intel. It's the CIA's, and it's also somehow the fault of France. The buck does not stop here.

jinx: Still curious regarding what you thought of that link. :/

 

[isamu]

Can someone fill me in and give me the extremely short rundown on what happened with this whole Rather business? I tend to keep my head out of politics current affairs.