A $70 million lawsuit filed by Dan Rather alleges CBS and its former parent company intentionally botched the aftermath of a discredited story about President Bush’s military service to curry favor with the administration.
The lawsuit claims Rather was made a “scapegoat” to placate the Bush administration after questions arose about the story, which concerned President Bush’s military service during the Vietnam War.
The 75-year-old Rather, whose final months at CBS were clouded by controversy over the story, said the defendants’ actions damaged his reputation and cost him significantly. He was removed from his “CBS Evening News” post in March 2005.
In his lawsuit, Rather maintains the story was true but says if any aspect of the broadcast was not accurate, he was not responsible for the errors. By forcing Rather to apologize publicly, “CBS intentionally caused the public and the media to attribute CBS’ alleged bungling of the episode to Mr. Rather,” the lawsuit claimed.
Prescription: This is called a “spank, switch & ditch”. It happens when two parties like Dan Rather and CBS have a long standing relationship and then some drama arises. CBS basically asked Dan Rather to take the “spanking” from the media by apologizing in regards to the careless newscast. Dan, believing in his own credibility and the power of CBS that this would eventually go away, agreed. But, when the kitchen got HOT, CBS wanted out, switched their position on the whole thing and ditched Rather. Now, when people think of the controversy they will think of Dan Rather more so than the brand of CBS. Smart on CBS’s part right? Only hope for Dan Rather at this point is handing out the free newspaper at the train station.Note: There is always a bottom up after a spanking and it sure can hurt!
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