Hyman Roth
09-19-2007, 06:38 PM
Plus its something relatively light hearted for a change...
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Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:45pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former news anchor Dan Rather sued CBS on Wednesday for $70 million, claiming the network violated his contract by not giving him enough air time and made him a scapegoat in a bid to "pacify the White House."
The 75-year-old Texan stepped down as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" after 24 years in March 2005 following a scandal over his reporting on President George W. Bush's military record. He kept reporting for the weekly news program "60 Minutes," but left CBS in June 2006 because he said they offered him no assignments.
The lawsuit was filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan against CBS, CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, Viacom, Viacom Chief Executive Sumner Redstone and Andrew Heyward, the former president of CBS News.
It claims CBS cost Rather "significant financial loss and seriously damaged his reputation."
"Central to defendants' plan to pacify the White House was to offer Mr. Rather as the public face of the story, and as a scapegoat for CBS management's bungling of the entire episode," the lawsuit said.
CBS said in a statement, "These complaints are old news and this lawsuit is without merit."
The story, suggesting Bush received preferential treatment during his Vietnam War service in the Texas Air National Guard, was partly based on documents CBS later acknowledged could not be authenticated. It retracted the report 12 days later.
"Defendants' improper responses to the attacks on the documents wrongfully damaged Mr. Rather and these values which he championed," the lawsuit said.
CBS News fired the producer of the segment and three other employees after an independent panel investigating the scandal concluded that "myopic zeal" led the network to disregard basic principles of journalism in rushing the piece onto the air.
Rather initially kept his job but stepped down as anchor in March 2005, six months after the scandal broke.
He now produces an hour long news program, "Dan Rather Reports," for HDNet -- available to Americans with high-definition television sets and a subscription to the channel owned by entrepreneur Mark Cuban.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1929787220070919?sp=true
View the complaint (Not Verified by Plaintiff) in PDF: (from TMZ.com)...
http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_documents/0919_don_rather_wm_01.pdf
______________________
Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:45pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former news anchor Dan Rather sued CBS on Wednesday for $70 million, claiming the network violated his contract by not giving him enough air time and made him a scapegoat in a bid to "pacify the White House."
The 75-year-old Texan stepped down as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" after 24 years in March 2005 following a scandal over his reporting on President George W. Bush's military record. He kept reporting for the weekly news program "60 Minutes," but left CBS in June 2006 because he said they offered him no assignments.
The lawsuit was filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan against CBS, CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, Viacom, Viacom Chief Executive Sumner Redstone and Andrew Heyward, the former president of CBS News.
It claims CBS cost Rather "significant financial loss and seriously damaged his reputation."
"Central to defendants' plan to pacify the White House was to offer Mr. Rather as the public face of the story, and as a scapegoat for CBS management's bungling of the entire episode," the lawsuit said.
CBS said in a statement, "These complaints are old news and this lawsuit is without merit."
The story, suggesting Bush received preferential treatment during his Vietnam War service in the Texas Air National Guard, was partly based on documents CBS later acknowledged could not be authenticated. It retracted the report 12 days later.
"Defendants' improper responses to the attacks on the documents wrongfully damaged Mr. Rather and these values which he championed," the lawsuit said.
CBS News fired the producer of the segment and three other employees after an independent panel investigating the scandal concluded that "myopic zeal" led the network to disregard basic principles of journalism in rushing the piece onto the air.
Rather initially kept his job but stepped down as anchor in March 2005, six months after the scandal broke.
He now produces an hour long news program, "Dan Rather Reports," for HDNet -- available to Americans with high-definition television sets and a subscription to the channel owned by entrepreneur Mark Cuban.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1929787220070919?sp=true
View the complaint (Not Verified by Plaintiff) in PDF: (from TMZ.com)...
http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_documents/0919_don_rather_wm_01.pdf