Excerpt from Kurtz’s book, on sale tomorrow:
The night before the story was tentatively scheduled to air, Rather was sitting at the anchor desk, with less than half an hour before the start of the Evening News. He called Josh Howard, who had recently been named as executive producer of 60 Minutes Wednesday, and asked what they were doing to promote his story.
“We’re not,†Howard said. “We haven’t gotten the lawyers to sign off. The script isn’t finished. We haven’t even talked to the White House. I’m not going to start promoting a story when we don’t know what we have.†That was not the answer Rather wanted to hear.
“Other people are chasing this story,†he said. “We’re going to lose our exclusive. We have to get our hooks into the story.â€Â
When Howard again refused, Rather raised the stakes.
“I’m going to give one of the documents to The New York Times to run in Wednesday’s paper,†he said. “They’ll have to credit CBS News. That way we can put our stamp on it.â€Â
“You can’t do that either,†Howard said. “We haven’t finished vetting this.†Rather grumbled and hung up. To raise the specter of giving away a scoop to a competing news outlet was practically unheard of.
Howard, who had once been an Evening News producer, had never been subjected to this kind of pressure. He did, however, have a backup plan. They were still in rerun season, so if the Guard story failed to get the green light, he had a previously aired program ready to go.
Recount! doesn’t stand a chance.
h/t Drudge
P.S. I want IowaHawk to write the screenplay.
This is not meant to be rude, but it’s sad, given what the media does on a daily basis, that we keep dining out on this. What once seemed a triumph now feels like a fluke.
I guess so. But we’re not authorized to stop trying, are we? And the absurdity is rather delicious, don’t you think?
I remember watching network news once in college. Some reporter lady went to London to investigate the phenomenon of Punks. She approaches some guy with a mohawk and diaper pins through his nose and mouth, and asks, “Why do you dress this way?” The guy, leaning up against a wall, looks right through her and says, “I hate society, man.”
I’ve pretty much been laughing ever since.
But I think Franklin Foer is chuckling too, and that makes me feel like the world is not a just place.
I wonder if Peggy Noonan has a new column up today.
If she doesn’t, you can check out the Anchoress.
sigh
What once seemed a triumph now feels like a fluke.
?
The actual real-world pwnage that gives the lie to any feasible claim of objectivity. It just doesn’t happen as often as it needs to is all I’m saying.
happyfeet,
It now feels like an intestinal parasite. Well, it always *was.*
Cordially…
Which is cool but you still have to work out if you want good muscle tone.
It just doesn’t happen as often as it needs to is all I’m saying.
1. The sin is not to fail, the sin is not to try.
2. Think marathon, not sprint.
3. There is no Number 3.
4. No
poofdahs.No guinsPen, or at least I’m not sure. I think the sin is to allow the game to become one where not getting pwned like Rather is de facto legitimacy. There is no “try” really that I see that encompasses even imagining a counter to the endemic slanted narrative that has resulted in completely ridiculous perceptions of the economy, for example, if polls are to be believed.
Days are, this is not your grandfather’s biased media. It’s new, it’s virulent, and it’s unapologetic.
5. Anyone caught not drinking is right out.
a counter to the endemic slanted narrative that has resulted in completely ridiculous perceptions of the economy
6. Nuke the academy.
Academy.
Yes. Ok. I can work with that.
the sin is to allow the game to become one where not getting pwned like Rather is de facto legitimacy
happy,
Did you watch the Bears-Packers game last night?
No, but I don’t watch the tv ever except sometimes. I’m very doctrinaire about media consumption. It’s sort of a professional hazzard, and also a personal neurosis thinger. I remember once doing a rough calculation of what a Nielsen viewer’s impact on a Los Angeles tv station could be. It seemed like a lot of money to me.
– Things we have learned on our summer vacation –
– Rather is a case study of how easily senality can wipe out 45 years of hard work.
– CBS is a case study of a grown organization thats made a lot of bad decisions.
– Mapes and Heywood is a case study of how ideologs can destroy a lot of peoples livelyhood.
– Kerry is a case study in the way that Swiftboats and government forms can be really tricky.
– There is no joy in watching witches melt, only a reassurance that lies always fail in the long run.