Letter to the Editor

Dan Rather leaves, and the profession he helped elevate chases him out with Enquirer-worthy snipes. What were the headlines yesterday? "Rather Departs Under Cloud of Scandal," "Dan Rather Finally Quits Having Stayed Too Long." I think journalists have forgotten that before Rather and his generation, the media was a propaganda branch of government, a ventriloquist at the service of the party in power. Rather and his cohorts made journalism a force to be reckoned with. They actually told people things that mattered. They were arrogant, even haughty, because the government they went after had shamelessly abused power (kinda like today), and in order to take on those challenges, you have to be rather fat in the head. You certainly can't accuse the press today of being fat in the head. I'd say submissive would be an apt description.

And perhaps that's the reason for all the nasty remarks as Rather fades. Today, radio, TV news and print journalism exist as a Bush Administration mouthpiece. Now that the last giant of the profession has departed, the media can get back to sniveling for a seat at the table.

Charles Sumnerian
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