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Rather and Couric - 6/12/2007 3:24:51 PM

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NEW YORK -- CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves shot back at former CBS news anchor Dan Rather on Tuesday, saying remarks Rather made about his successor, Katie Couric, were "sexist."

Rather, speaking on MSNBC by phone on Monday, said CBS had made the mistake of taking the evening news broadcast and "dumbing it down, tarting it up," and playing up topics such as celebrities over war coverage. The comments appeared in blogs and in a story published Tuesday in the New York Daily News.

While referring to Couric as a "nice person," Rather said "the mistake was to try to bring the 'Today' show ethos to the 'Evening News,' and to dumb it down, tart it up in hopes of attracting a younger audience."

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=265433&GT1=7703

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RE: Rather and Couric - 6/12/2007 3:34:01 PM

juliaoceania

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I do not see these comments as sexist. "Tarting" it up is about the stories being covered, not about Couric herself. Also, it really does not matter what Rather says anymore because they cannot fire him for it.. its great to be retired!

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RE: Rather and Couric - 6/12/2007 3:44:10 PM

slaveboyforyou

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I think Dan Rather is right, but the network news has been in steady decline for years. They are becoming more and more irrelevant as other sources of news surface. I don't get my news from one exclusive source. I do watch the network news, but I will flip back and forth between them to see what they are reporting on. Honestly, CBS tends to always have a lot more fluff. I don't tend to stay on CBS for very long. If I had to pick, NBC would get my vote as the better of the big 3. However most of my news comes from newspapers and online news. I do watch the 24 hour cable news channels, but I don't have a favorite among them either. I flip back and forth between FOX, MSNBC, and CNN. I usually have one of them on in the background when I am working on something. I think my viewing habits tend to reflect a lot of other people's, and it amuses me that different outlets believe they are losing viewers and readers. It's not that they are losing us; we just have a lot more choices now. We don't have to decide between 3 television stations, and a couple of newspapers.

I don't think Dan, Dan the newsman was being sexist. I can see his point. Couric is capable and she is well spoken. I don't blame her. CBS has been trying to gain back viewers for a long time. They have always had the reputation of being the choice of geriatrics ever since Walter Cronkrite left. I think what irritates a lot of people about what Rather said was the fact that he has has always held liberal positions. I can see Rather taking someone else to task if they used the word "tart" to describe a woman in the public profile. However anytime someone with a liberal viewpoint makes sexist or racist comments, there is a shortage of activists speaking out against them.

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RE: Rather and Couric - 6/12/2007 3:53:14 PM

juliaoceania

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quote:

can see Rather taking someone else to task if they used the word "tart" to describe a woman in the public profile.

He did not call her a tart.

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RE: Rather and Couric - 6/12/2007 4:02:39 PM

slaveboyforyou

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quote:

He did not call her a tart.

No he didn't call her a tart directly, and I didn't say he did. I even said that I didn't believe he meant anything sexist with his remarks. He did say that Couric was a "nice person" right before he make derogatory comments about her previous works on the Today show. He essentially said that what he did was important, and her previous work was cute but not to the level of the CBS nightly news. I have nothing against Dan Rather, but what he said was condescending. He said that CBS was "tarting" up its broadcasts. It is not hard to see that he sees the hiring of Couric to be an extension of that tartness. Although he didn't call her a tart directly; I can see where others might see that it was implied.

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RE: Rather and Couric - 6/12/2007 4:08:48 PM

juliaoceania

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In my opinion the Today show is tarted up compared to the Nightly News. That includes Matt Lauer (whom my Daddy resembles... lucky me).

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