WP: Dan Rather calls his new company "News and Guts"

[DeepModem Mom]

Gunga Dan Is Gung-Ho
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 9, 2006

....in a barren temporary office on Park Avenue, he is anxious to talk about the new program he is building, piece by piece. "I have found it liberating, and more so than I thought it would be," Rather says of his venture for the high-definition channel HDNet, which debuts Nov. 14. His new boss, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, "has given me in writing total, complete, absolute journalistic control. This is unprecedented in my experience."...

***

Rather has christened his new company News and Guts, which more or less captures his self-image. He says that the weekly "Dan Rather Reports" will have a hard edge and that he is trying to land interviews with major newsmakers. "We're hunting big game," he says.

The focus of these hourlong shows, he says, will be largely on three areas: veterans, politics and -- "I hate the phrase 'middle class' -- regular Americans who are neither in poverty nor well-off. People struggling to make it, meet the house payments, make their car notes."...

***

Still, HDNet, which reaches 3 million homes through satellite and cable, is hardly a mass-market vehicle. "We're dealing with a small audience, a very small audience," Rather says. "I have no illusions about that. But it's a quality audience."

The problem with huge media companies, says the man who spent his career working for one, is that "they have legislative and regulatory needs in Washington. They have the imperative of increasing stockholder value. What we've learned in the last 25 to 35 years is that this creates all kinds of potential pressures and influences on what news consumers get."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100587.html

[Benhurst]

1. He'll never fill Katie Couric's shoes.

[ananda]

12. Lol. His journalistic feet are way too big!

Katie is just chump infotainment change compared to Dan.

Go Dan! Good luck!

[earth mom]

18. Huh?! Katie is a total right wing shill.

:puke:

[Tesha]

19. (Get your sarcasm detector recalibrated. Soon!) (NT)

[krkaufman]

25. chuckle. n/t

[tsuki]

2. If you hate the term "middle class," then use the correct term-

working class. I get up each morning and go to work.

[petgoat]

10. "Class" is a taboo word, only permissible when you're accusing

Democrats of engaging in "class warfare" (or when you're talking about
school groups).

Politicians say "middle income group."

[Jade Fox]

16. What do you mean? We don't have classes is this country....

:sarcasm:

[bluerum]

3. Sounds like a great idea and I am so happy Mr.Rather is able to

do what he wants to do and what he is good at.

I would run that name by a marketing firm or a branding consultant though.

[MadMaddie]

4. This is good news......Rather will get more support....it would

be great to get several retired or pushed out distinguised reporters and maybe some new aggressive young blood reporters to shake up the US Media as we know it...

[kstewart33]

5. that's good news.

Let's see what Dan makes of it. It surely must be liberating. Talk about making lemonade from a very sour lemon.

[tularetom]

6. I'll believe the "guts" part when I see it

In my opinion Rather folded like a cheap suit on the * National Guard issue that ultimately got him canned from CBS. He remained silent instead of stressing that *'s attendance was the question, not the authenticity of one document, and thus allowed the * defenders & swift boaters to define the matter. And who can forget the spectacle of him bawling on the Letterman show shortly after 9/11 swearing undying loyalty to *. I remain hopeful but I'm afraid all this will amount to is a bunch of Dan's inane country metaphors sprinkled among straight news reading.

[Warpy]

8. I'll take it

It'll be a step down from the stellar reporting of Bill Moyers on PBS, but it will be a nightly presentation. It'll be a hundred steps up from chirpy Katie and her procession of one right wing ranter after another presented as factual reporting.

I hope Direct TV picks it up. It will make a nice complement to Link TV.

[Touchdown]

7. HDNet is a class act. Very fair and accurate reporting.

HDNet World Report is a damn good show, with long exposes on current issues, and they use "Estate Tax" instead of crappy GOP frames. I watch it every week.

Can't wait for Rather's show, sounds good!:bounce:

[sarahlee]

11. Good news

coupled with the news that KO's audience is up 69%

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061008/ap_en_tv/tv_keith_olbermann

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. Are Yahoo's message boards filled mostly with CONs?

:wow: what a bunch of projecting whiners they are.

[blossomstar]

9. I MISS Dan Rather on the evening news still.

I grew up listening to Dan Rather, my Dad always tuned him in for the evening news because he was a vet as well and had respect for Dan Rather's news coverage. I was heartsick when he left because he reminded me of my dad who passed away 6 years ago.. today is my dad's birthday so this is a wonderful present for me to know that Dan Rather will be back!!! I smelled my dad's bottle of Old Spice Aftershave that I kept from his bedtable this morning... it still smells just like him! A world war II vet, my dad would roll over in his grave if he knew all the dirty politics going on in his cherished America right now... I'm almost glad that he is spared the embarassment of this country that he fought so hard for in a truly just war. He was my hero.

[The Count]

14. When he interviewed Clark he editorialized "but he can't feel sorry for

the poor Iraquis" after Clark teared up at the Bosnian suffering.
Mind you, the alledged Iraqui suffering took place 9 years before, but Dan needed to demolish an anti-war Dem candidate.
What was done to him was horrifying, but I could never feel personally sorry for him after that little shiv in the back.

[Olney Blue]

15. That title for his show is quite a commentary on media...

speaking the truth requires "guts" in today's climate.

I hope he can make an impact. Good luck, Dan.

[earth mom]

17. OMG! Mark Cuban & Dan Rather?!

Wow, this should piss the powers that be off big time! I hope so! Makes me wanna get cable or satellite again...I just might now! :bounce:

p.s. Where's the excitement around DU about this?! Everyone has been complaining for YEARS about the lying b.s. news we have to put up with from the networks and Faux and now it looks like truth is coming our way and few on this thread seem very excited about it...?!

:wtf:

[Touchdown]

20. You need a Hi-Def TV as well.

HDNet is Hi-Def only, but it is beautiful. They show all of NASA's launches. Can't wait to see The pores in Dan's grizzled face.:evilgrin:

[Rosco T.]

21. actually, no you don't need a HDTV..

You just need a HiDef RECEIVER from either DirecTV, Dish or your cable company if they carry HDNet.

All the HD receivers will also have an S-Video out so you can connect to a regular TV or VCR/DVD Recorder.

[Touchdown]

22. What's the point if you can't see it?

Granted, somebody hungry for some responsible journalism would want do it, but $70 a month for HD programming (which is what I pay on dish) seems extravagant if you can't appreciate the picture quality.:shrug:

[Rosco T.]

23. I only pay $9.99 for HD programming on DIrect???

woah..

[Touchdown]

24. I got HBO & Showtime.

$70 is the entire package (standard def and local HD chans too) minus the DVR which is something like $12 (I get auto pay and forget). I dunno. 25 chans including Discover Theater, HBO, Showtime, Universal HD, doesn't seem a bad price to me.

[Tesha]

28. More correctly, you only pay a $9.99 *UPLIFT* for HDTV.

More correctly, you only pay a $9.99 *UPLIFT* for HDTV.
You're doubtless also paying $59.99 a month (or some such)
for your "Total Choice Plus" (or some such) DirecTV pro-
gramming package.

Tesha

[Stardust]

26. I'm totally stoked!

[SoCalDem]

27. No clamor because few will ever see him

If he had gone with Link or FSTV, at least people with cable could have seen him, but this HDnet gig pretty much isolates him in neverneverland..

We will not be buying a HighDef tv or paying any more than we have to, to watch what little we watch now..

My guess is that people with Dish will not need a high def tv.. at least that's what I have heard so far..

Cuban should have bought MSRNC and stocked it with true liberals.. My guess is that the ratings would have rivaled Fox (or beaten them)...

[earth mom]

30. Thank you. Now I get it.

I haven't had cable/satellite or a new t.v. for that matter in so long that I'm out of the loop. :hi:

[RedStateShame]

29. Courage. n/t