Forget politics, did anyone actually like his onscreen persona and news delivery? I have issues with Brokaw & (even more) Jennings but if nothing else, they are both very warm, personable, likeable talking heads. Whether ultimately deserved or not those two could convey a sense of trust and genuine interest (like Cronkite).
But Rather, all jokes aside, always appeared to me as detached, cold, off-putting, and overly (and insincerely) serious. The very things which should have made him a terrible choice for network news anchor. And yet, here is retiring after 24 freakin’ years!
So was it just me? Did anyone really prefer him to the others? If so, why?
There will never be a replacement for Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, or Edward R. Murrow, also Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. There was a fatherly aura of honesty and integrity about them that can’t be claimed by the talking heads today.
Those listed were newsmen-they appeared on the TV as a duty to viewers, and didn’t perceive themselves as some sort of upper class. That’s the difference as I see it.
Well after what I heard about him on the radio he has just been elevated to cool status in my mind.
In 1968 he got in a fight at the Democratic National Convention, in 1981 he did his entire broadcast kneeling behind his desk because he didn’t think he was worthy to sit in Walter Kronkite’s chair, he dressed up as a beggar woman to get a story, he got robbed by a crazy man and lived to tell about it, he ended all his broadcasts with the word “courage” for some reason and his colorful news delivery is admired by other news reporters from around the world.
After hearing all this I was very sorry that I had not been watching Dan Rather all this time, he seems like an extremely cool guy.
Meh. I was never a big TV news watcher anyway (though I do remember my parents watching Cronkite back when I was just a pup). The thing I’m going to miss about Rather is the way he took old folksy saying and made them into an election night Olympic event. For all of the past three presidential elections I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what homey axiom he was going to mangle next.
Now, the chances of anyone actually being half as entertaining on election night are slim to none, and Slim just took the last train out of town because he kept bumping his butt without those wings.
Oh, bollocks. I’ve never got the whole deal with LIKING or TRUSTING newsreaders, let alone “celebrity” newsreaders. They’re paid to look good in a suit, have a full head of hair, enunciate clearly, and read off an autocue: I can do all the above, for a fraction of the price. Listen to the message, not the messenger.
Seriously.
Even if what you say is true, it’s an extremely superficial level. To sit there, night after night and read the news is much harder than you think, especially if you want to be trustworthy. Which is why there are so few of them and they get paid so much.
There are places where a bit of seriousness is not unsuitable. And my attitude towards him does have a political connection–but we aren’t supposed to go into that on this part of the board, are we?
I always have. But then, my mother watched him when I was growing up, not Brokaw or Jennings. So, maybe I just got used to watching Rather when I watched news. I will miss him.
I never minded Mr. Rather’s “seriousness”. I prefer the straight-faced approach over the chipper-happy-monkey idiocy I see on so many local news shows. But Dan Rather takes seriousness a little overboard. Calling him “odd” is almost charitable. He’s damn creepy sometimes.
Okay, I guess I am a Dan Rather fan. I think Peter Jennings and especially Tom Brokaw are much too pompous. And Tom Brokaw - geez what a mush-mouth - he seriously needed to take some speech training.
Funny, I always preferred news reporters to be, you know, reporters, not announcers. Rather had serious credentials as a reporter and an understanding of current events. I’ve always liked him better than Brokaw or Jennings. That said, he’s needed to retire for about ten years now.
My favorite moment, from before I was born, is definitely “I think it’s a bunch of thugs in here!!”, followed closely by the night the tennis game ran long and preempted the start of the news. Rather did a Jack Paar and forced the network to never do that again.