Star US anchor sues CBS over Bush war memos
(Suzanne Plunkett/AP)
CBS News anchor Dan Rather waits for a news conference to begin at the CBS Broadcast Center Thursday Oct. 18, 2001, in New York
Hannah Strange
Dan Rather, the award-winning former anchorman for US broadcaster CBS, has launched a $70 million lawsuit against his long-time employer, claiming bosses made him a “scapegoat” for a discredited story about President George W. Bush’s military record.
Maintaining he was sacrificed in order to appease the White House, Rather said the affair had irrevocably damaged his reputation and caused him considerable financial loss.
Rather, 75, was removed from the CBS Evening News anchor chair he had occupied for 24 years in March 2005, following months of controversy over a story he had narrated in September 2004, in the closing weeks of the presidential election campaign.
The report claimed that during Mr Bush’s time in the Texas Air National Guard – a posting which spared him from service in Vietnam – he shirked duties and disobeyed orders, relying on his political connections to avoid punishment. The explosive story, based on documents supposedly written by the former commander who covered for his transgressions, was immediately seized upon by Democrats, who had long pointed to his avoidance of Vietnam service as evidence he was a “chickenhawk” – belligerent but in reality less equipped to command the troops than his rival John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran.
Critics, however, suggested the documents had been forged. A CBS review was set up, which failed to confirm or deny the authenticity of the papers and concluded that the story had been neither fair nor accurate. The producer responsible was fired and three executives asked to resign, while Rather, despite his limited role in the story, was forced to apologise on air, a move that he claims all but destroyed his career.
The lawsuit names as defendants CBS, its former parent company Viacom and senior executives Leslie Moonves, Sumner Redstone and Andrew Heyward. Rather is “seeking damages for breach of contract, reputational harm, and fraud related to their unwarranted treatment” of the anchor.
It claims that the defendants “well knew, even if any aspect of the broadcast had not been accurate, which has never been established, Mr. Rather was not responsible for any such errors.”
By making Rather apologize publicly, “CBS intentionally caused the public and the media to attribute CBS’ alleged bungling of the episode to Mr. Rather,” the lawsuit claims. As a consequence, some news media began to refer to the affair as “Rathergate,” forever associating his name with the affair.
“Mr Rather believes these actions were driven by the defendants’ political agenda to make Mr. Rather a scapegoat and intentionally tarnish his reputation,” lawyers for the newsman said in a statement.
After spending his final few months in the job under a cloud of controversy, Rather was removed from the programme which established him as a household name, and, he claims, was marginalised within the organisation, being given fewer, less important assignments and minimal airtime on shows such as 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II.
At the time, the anchor was earning $6 million a year, the lawsuit says. Now, Rather presents a little known weekly news show on cable channel HDNet, with ratings a fraction of what he regularly commanded on CBS.
(Suzanne Plunkett/AP)
CBS News anchor Dan Rather waits for a news conference to begin at the CBS Broadcast Center Thursday Oct. 18, 2001, in New York
Hannah Strange
Dan Rather, the award-winning former anchorman for US broadcaster CBS, has launched a $70 million lawsuit against his long-time employer, claiming bosses made him a “scapegoat” for a discredited story about President George W. Bush’s military record.
Maintaining he was sacrificed in order to appease the White House, Rather said the affair had irrevocably damaged his reputation and caused him considerable financial loss.
Rather, 75, was removed from the CBS Evening News anchor chair he had occupied for 24 years in March 2005, following months of controversy over a story he had narrated in September 2004, in the closing weeks of the presidential election campaign.
The report claimed that during Mr Bush’s time in the Texas Air National Guard – a posting which spared him from service in Vietnam – he shirked duties and disobeyed orders, relying on his political connections to avoid punishment. The explosive story, based on documents supposedly written by the former commander who covered for his transgressions, was immediately seized upon by Democrats, who had long pointed to his avoidance of Vietnam service as evidence he was a “chickenhawk” – belligerent but in reality less equipped to command the troops than his rival John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran.
Critics, however, suggested the documents had been forged. A CBS review was set up, which failed to confirm or deny the authenticity of the papers and concluded that the story had been neither fair nor accurate. The producer responsible was fired and three executives asked to resign, while Rather, despite his limited role in the story, was forced to apologise on air, a move that he claims all but destroyed his career.
The lawsuit names as defendants CBS, its former parent company Viacom and senior executives Leslie Moonves, Sumner Redstone and Andrew Heyward. Rather is “seeking damages for breach of contract, reputational harm, and fraud related to their unwarranted treatment” of the anchor.
It claims that the defendants “well knew, even if any aspect of the broadcast had not been accurate, which has never been established, Mr. Rather was not responsible for any such errors.”
By making Rather apologize publicly, “CBS intentionally caused the public and the media to attribute CBS’ alleged bungling of the episode to Mr. Rather,” the lawsuit claims. As a consequence, some news media began to refer to the affair as “Rathergate,” forever associating his name with the affair.
“Mr Rather believes these actions were driven by the defendants’ political agenda to make Mr. Rather a scapegoat and intentionally tarnish his reputation,” lawyers for the newsman said in a statement.
After spending his final few months in the job under a cloud of controversy, Rather was removed from the programme which established him as a household name, and, he claims, was marginalised within the organisation, being given fewer, less important assignments and minimal airtime on shows such as 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II.
At the time, the anchor was earning $6 million a year, the lawsuit says. Now, Rather presents a little known weekly news show on cable channel HDNet, with ratings a fraction of what he regularly commanded on CBS.
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