Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News [With Earbuds] (Playaway Adult Nonfiction) ebook

Written in 2012, Dan Rather provides amazingly accurate foresight on the role of journalism as the informal fourth branch of government. With the current Trump Administration, investigative journalism is more important than ever as a check on those in power. This is a well-paced book with interesting stories from his decades of journalism experience. He doesn't just tell the story; he also provides a thorough background on the cause, external influences, and the lasting impact that these experiences had on his career. Highly recommended, especially for those in the field. You'll definitely learn something.

I saved two books when I tossed out my library of many decades and a whole lot of other stuff several months ago (most of it given to good homes). Dan Rather's book was one of the two. As a journalist by trade, I have followed him and his career ever since he came on the national scene in 1963. He was my "hero" and mentor after Douglas Edwards, Edward R. Murrow and Lowell Thomas faded from the scene. I still watch and listen with awe and reverence whenever he appears on my screen. His authoritative voice, as well as his ability to quip appropriately, always held me to attention. If you like him, this book will garb you and underscore all I have said about him too.

Dan Rather is a quality story teller and this book was quite interesting. He didn't shy away from calling out anyone and everyone he felt wronged him (or the news business), but he painted himself as the quintessential good soldier. He had to make some legitimate mistakes along the way, right? Instead, I felt I was reading "my biggest mistake is I care too much" type of admissions only. Also, he took every opportunity to shed a negative light on conservatives/Repubs, which doesn't jive with down-the-middle "just the facts, ma'am" picture of himself he wants you to see. So I'll ask, Mr. Rather...what's wrong with being liberal? We are all biased in one way or another. Doesn't mean you didn't do your job well (one of the best ever), just means you're human.

This is a very humble book. The reader can feel the anxiety and excitement coming through the written word. A lot of the information was known to me but there was plenty of eye opening tidbits of concern and interest. Rather has a gift of engaging the reader. I had a hard time putting it down. Very interesting and informative read.

"Rather Outspoken" is a remarkable book. While the book resembles an autobiography, it becomes clear early on that Rather's real purpose is to set the record straight--as he sees it--on the September, 2004 CBS 60 Minutes Wednesday program that purported to detail President George W. Bush's record in the Texas Air National Guard. Rather's view is that the story that was told, i.e., that Bush used his father's influence to get into the Guard (to avoid Vietnam) and that he didn't complete his required amount of military service was accurately reported. He claims that the CBS duet of Viacom chief Sumner Redstone and CBS honcho Les Moonves had too many corporate interests at stake in Washington and had to find a way to walk back the Guard story. According to Rather, they hired former Attorney General (under President George H.W. Bush) Richard Thornburgh to investigate where the 60 Minutes Wednesday story went wrong. Rather's view is that Thornburgh had figured out his main conclusions before he started his work and that there really wasn't an investigation--it was just a ruse to let CBS walk away from the broadcast and to ease Rather out of the Company.

What makes this book remarkable is that first-class investigative reporter Dan Rather (in part through facts he secured by spending hundreds of thousands of his own dollars on unsuccessful litigation against CBS) makes an extremely strong case for his point of view. According to Rather, Redstone and Moonves used (now deposed) CBS News President Andrew Heyward to do most of their bidding. Clearly, if there is a goat in this book, it is clearly Heyward who was eventually "bought off" in Rather's view with a $2,000,000 severance package. Rather ties it all together by indicating that modern day journalism--in general--is in peril by the commercial interests of people such as Redstone and Moonves, claiming, in effect, that they are the opposite of what CBS founder William Paley and long-time CBS president Frank Stanton stood for. Rather can't believe that the CBS News presidency evolved from Richard Salant to Andrew Heyward.

Rather, now 80, still works and has worked since 2006 (when he left CBS) for Mark Cuban's HDNet. Rather equates Cuban as almost a modern day Bill Paley since Cuban, according to Rather, shares his vision of what investigative journalism has to be. I found the praise of Cuban to be somewhat self-serving but the fact is that a lot of Dan's work at hardly seen HDNet has won awards.

My personal favorite part of this book (and there are many) is Rather's description of what it was like to walk into the CBS Broadcast Center on 57th Street for the first time in 1962 and what it was like on that day to meet such CBS legends as Charles Collingwood (dressed immacuately, of course) and then nightime news anchor Douglas Edwards.

Rather has been in journalism for 60 years and is still working in the year that he will turn 81 because he is dogged, enthused, courageous, prepared, passionate and determined. I hope this book goes a long way to helping him bring his reputation back to where it surely belongs.

An honest book from a professional journalist from the "old school." Interesting background history, having been a self-made man, brought up from humble beginnings. The honesty and dedication of a "boots on the ground" journalist that covered all the major world events of the past 50 years is filled with good information, from all the Presidents he has known, to Watergate, Vietnam, and the evolving face of the news media, that has developed over the decades.

The falling out he had with CBS is probably explained in a little more detail than we need, for a little longer than we need--but it is symbolic of the changing face of news organizations and their link to politics and the almighty quest for profit, much like any other corporation. While Dan Rather has been born and bred to hold news organizations to a higher standard, most of us reading the book probably accept the fact that news is often sold as entertainment, and to consider the source when tuning in. To Dan Rather, what may seem a tragic evolution of the big news corporations since WWII has become just business as usual to those of us raised in front of a TV. While Dan is appalled at what they don't tell us on the news, most of us more quickly filter out the garbage and seek out news from sources other than big network stations like CBS, CNN, or any of the big money machines whose greatest goal is selling more ads to Coke.

I really enjoyed this book by Dan Rather. I wanted to read about his side of the story on the CBS-Bush incident. I think he is a man of integrity and it was interesting to read about his life in this book.