Rathergate: an infamous day in the history of news reporting and journalism, when the one of the media's most trusted faces was brought to his knees by the honest bloggers who saw falsehood in his reporting. However, there is more to it than that.
CBS was sent several documents making claims that would damage George Bush's reputation as a military man mere weeks before the 2004 election, a critical time for politicians and voters alike. However, in the hours following the 60 Minutes report with Dan Rather, bloggers began to rip the documents apart as forgeries, and before a week had passed, CBS was forced to acknowledge their mistake, and as a consequence let Dan Rather and several other staff members go.
This incident is revered as a revolutionary day for journalists and bloggers alike. It showed that there is a more involved checks and balances system for the media, and an effective one at that. Bloggers have the availability and access of the internet at their disposal, being able to say what they want, and in turn to point out the mistakes of their more professional counterparts. Intelligent men and women who are unable, or unwilling, to involve themselves in the media can effect change in the establishment, which is a great and new thing. It also forces journalists to be more honest, lest they be found out by the people and hung up as an example. As an aspiring journalist, you'd think this would worry me, but it doesn't. My intent, and goal, is to report the truth. I don't think I have anything to worry about, as long as I remain honest. There will always be those who disagree with me and argue no matter what facts I present, but there wont be any controversy in the conveying of my news.
I think one of the worst parts of Rathergate was the political nature of the incident. Not in the political nature of the government, but the politics of journalism and business of news. And make no mistake, the News is a business now. CBS failed to authenticate the documents before putting them in Rather's hands, and the public repudiation was directed at the entire organization, not just Dan Rather. However, Dan Rather at the time was the face of CBS, and the CEO's of CBS had just gained a large scar in the form of the Killian documents. But rather than just patching up the mistake and moving on, they decided they needed a new face entirely. The blemish on one of their most popular news anchor's reputations was just too much to handle, so they got rid of it. Maybe a smart business move, since keeping Rather might have hurt their ratings, but it wasn't the right thing to do. Rather was a trusted news anchor for a reason. He reported the news, and people believed him. It wasn't even his fault the incident occurred, but he was the one who was punished. He even said, after the incident, "if I knew then what I know now – I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question."
This demonstrates a trend that has long bothered me. News programs, particularly TV news, but others as well, are run by people more motivated by profits and agendas than they are by reporting accurate news to the people. They care more for their public image than they do for competent reporters who make mistakes, and rely on that image more than the public's reliance on accurate news. The drama and impact of the documents, two weeks before the election, must have seemed like gifts from the gods to the higher-ups of CBS, something new and edgy that would attract more viewers. They probably didn't care if they were authentic or not as long as it brought in more ratings, although they might have thought twice if they knew the trouble they would cause for them.
Mind you, this is speculation on my part.
But you can see this trend all over. When Anna Nicole Smith died, Fox news covered the story every day for more than a month. I know. I saw it whenever my mom stopped to watch the channel. It was embarrassing. And you can see plenty of shows and channels out there that just bring in opposing experts to duke it out in a pointless debate which has no purpose beyond entertainment, seeing as how no one on opposing sides is going to be convinced of anything contrary to what they already believe.
Why? Not only because it's cheap, but because people want to watch. And that, above all else, even above reporting and educating, is what producers of media want.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmj6JADOZ-8
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you did a good job of putting your own voice in it. I liked how you compared the reporting - blog relationship to the checks and balances relationship. I think when you said that it wasn't rather's fault you could have explained a bit more than just that retrospective quote. also, i think cuz it's a blog you should use shorter paragraphs. good job
ReplyDeleteYou make a lot of good points in this post. I especially like what you said about news corporations being businesses, because we are kidding ourselves if we deny this. However, I do think it’s a bit harsh to suggest that the producers of the show wouldn’t have cared about the authenticity of the documents because of the publicity they would bring. I do think that most journalists try to uphold the standards we’re taught in school, but the pressures of commercialism are sometimes so great that even the best journalists cut corners.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. Your analysis about the CBS news story is dead on but what i liked most about your blog was your personal voice. You make the blog very personable and allow your readers to develop an interest in not only the subject matters your discuss but also you as a blogger. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteGood post, in general. Two quibbles:
ReplyDelete1. Your intro of "honest" bloggers is fine, but I thought you were setting that up to tear it down. The lead blogger in the controversy was later shown to have lied about his identity and his expertise.
This is a minor point to the controversy, but you seemed to invoke blogger honesty without conveying the facts of that particular case and those particular bloggers.
2. Capitalize Internet.
Otherwise, I thought this was good and you have a good command of the personal and external voice in this post. Keep up the good work.