Dan Rather is returning to the airwaves, CNN reports, this time in a half hour “untraditional evening newscast” aimed at millennials, on the progressive “Young Turks” network.
Rather, who has hovered around the periphery of news media since departing CBS News in disgrace years ago, believes that something has “clicked” with the Cenk Uygur-helmed network, and “jumped” at the opportunity to work with the progressive outlet which delivers openly left-leaning news content to the under-40 set, largely using social media.
“The format is designed to allow me to focus on substance,” Rather told CNN, and claimed the show “will be raw” with “no bells and whistles,” and will focus on stories Rather believes are being under-reported by mainstream networks. He doesn’t mind the ideological bent.
“At this age and stage in my life, my attitude is, ‘What the hell,'” Rather said. “I am not the smartest guy around and don’t know everything, but I have been blessed as a reporter and have seen a few things. And now I have moved to a different place. I want to contribute if I can.”
It may be a perfect fit for Rather. Since leaving CBS, he’s been on a tour of colleges, universities, and a handful of still-surviving bookstores, claiming to speak for those who desire to learn the “truth” from mainstream media, though without a whiff of self-analysis — and millennials are probably the only ones who don’t clearly remember that time Dan Rather reported on President George W. Bush’s record of service in the Texas Air National guard, using “historical memos” drawn up on Microsoft Word.
Of course, he went on to wax poetic to CNN about “fake news.”
“This is a time when everybody needs to be counted. I don’t want to be preachy about it, but we have a real responsibility, those of us in journalism and those of us who have experience in journalism, to do what we can,” Rather said. “These efforts to convince the public that people in the news are dealing in fake news is quite frankly bullsh*t.”