Having Helped Kill Off Traditional Media, Dan Rather Now Wants To Revive It

[Clever Login Name]

He's all about having the government get involved in yet another industry (bailouts?) ... how that translates into a "truly free and independent press" is anyone's guess:

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/135834

Dan Rather wants Obama to help save the news
by Andrew Travers, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called on President Barack Obama to form a White House commission to help save the press Tuesday night in an impassioned speech at the Aspen Institute.

“I personally encourage the president to establish a White House commission on public media,” the legendary newsman said.

Such a commission on media reform, Rather said, ought to make recommendations on saving journalism jobs and creating new business models to keep news organizations alive.

At stake, he argued, is the very survival of American democracy.

“A truly free and independent press is the red beating heart of democracy and freedom,” Rather said in an interview yesterday afternoon. “This is not something just for journalists to be concerned about, and the loss of jobs and the loss of newspapers, and the diminution of the American press’ traditional role of being the watchdog on power. This is something every citizen should be concerned about.”

[wx or not]

Journalism integrity and Dan Rather. Mutually exclusive.

[Kace]

If it takes the President to dictate how the media should do things, then it's probably not all that free a press.

[The Mockingbird]

That would be a valid argument, if the media companies had shown that they cared about anything other than eyeballs and ad revenue for the past quarter century.

Oops, my bad, I forgot about the likes of Sinclair Brodacasting, who eschewed actually making money in favor of promoting a particular political agenda.

Unfortunately, "responsible journalism" has become an oxymoron. Even more unfortunately, the broadcast management solution to this problem seems to be making the words a synonym for "Reality TV".

[Diplomat]

So Rather thinks government interference will preserve a free press?

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

[News Is Broken]

Actually I think a free (as in unpaid) press is what Rather is trying to avoid. ;)

But yeah... asking the Gubmint to help design a business model? I dunno about any of you, but personally, the LAST thing I'd want is for an entity with a proven track record of running literally TRILLIONS of dollars in the red giving me advice on how to make a profit in ANY sort of business. It's painfully obvious that the government has no idea how this is done.

Edited to Add: However, I wouldn't mind talking with those folks about how you can get away with spending trillions more than you actually have. That's a trick I'd love to know.

[BadgerWXman]

http://www.write4good.com/images/bangHeadAgainstWall.gif

[The Mockingbird]

There's an entire spectrum between government ownership and non-regulated business, and when the current model ceases to be financially viable, there probably needs to be some kind of replacement.

Media companies have repeatedly shown a complete unwillingness to police themselves in just about every aspect of the business.

[tater]

Why does anybody ever ask Dan Rather his thoughts on journalism? They should be awarded no points and may God have mercy on their soul.