Rather to Step Down as CBS News Anchor

Dan Rather announced Tuesday that he would resign in March as CBS News anchor, catching many by surprise just weeks before the release of a report expected to criticize his role in a discredited story about President Bush’s National Guard service.

Network officials said Rather, 73, had discussed his resignation with them last summer, well before the airing of the ill-fated “60 Minutes” story in September. The veteran journalist, who has anchored the “CBS Evening News” for nearly 24 years, will continue to report for “60 Minutes.”

Rather wanted his resignation to be separate from the release of the outside panel’s report, said CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves. “He’s going out on his own terms after serving us long and well,” Moonves said.

In an interview Tuesday, Rather said he was not retiring. “I’m going to throw myself into both ’60 Minutes’ broadcasts,” he said. “My best work is still ahead of me.”

But observers said his early exit from the “CBS Evening News” was a way for the network to minimize embarrassment over the Bush story.

In a news broadcast nearly two weeks after the Sept. 8 story on Bush, Rather apologized and admitted he was misled by sources. He said he had relied on unverified documents to allege that the president had received preferential treatment while in the military.

Rather’s resignation will follow Tom Brokaw’s Dec. 1 exit from “NBC Nightly News” and comes at a time when the influence of network evening newscasts is eroding. Their share of the national audience is shrinking, given competition from the 24-hour news cycle of cable television and the growth of the Internet as a source of news and information.

Much of the criticism of the “60 Minutes” broadcast on Bush came initially from Web loggers, or “bloggers,” and their critiques spread rapidly through the rest of the media.

An independent investigation of the Sept. 8 broadcast is being conducted by Louis D. Boccardi, a former Associated Press executive, and Richard L. Thornburgh, a former U.S. attorney general. The panel, appointed by network officials, has interviewed several dozen people inside CBS and is expected to submit its findings next month.

As news spread about Rather’s plans to step down March 9, speculation began on two possible successors: CBS White House correspondent John Roberts, and Scott Pelley, a reporter for the Wednesday edition of “60 Minutes.”

Over the summer, Pelley substituted sometimes for Rather on the “CBS Evening News.” But Roberts, who had a prominent role analyzing exit polls on election night, is widely thought to have the inside track if CBS decides not to recruit from outside the network.

Moonves, who is also co-president of CBS parent company Viacom Inc., said CBS would not choose a successor until after the new year. He would not elaborate on whether CBS was looking for young stars or celebrity names.

Rather described his decision to leave the anchor’s chair as bittersweet, and praised his colleagues at CBS News.

“I love this job,” he said. “Someone asked me if I was going to go for my 25th anniversary and I said, ‘No I’m going to go for the 35th.’ But life’s not like that.

“This feels right,” he said, including what he called the symmetry of stepping down on his 24th anniversary.

The anchorman, who has long prided himself on high standards, added that “I won’t know how I feel about [the investigation] until the panel submits its report. I don’t know what the last line will be, but I’m obviously very interested.”

In the “60 Minutes” story, which was produced by CBS veteran Mary Mapes, Rather reported that newly unearthed military records showed Bush got preferential treatment to gain admission to the Texas Air National Guard, and then failed to follow orders while in the service.

The network was forced to backtrack under a wave of criticism that the documents were phony. In an embarrassing follow-up, Rather admitted that the source who had given CBS the documents had not told the truth about them, and that their authenticity could not be proven.

The panel’s report “is undoubtedly going to be negative, and what CBS is doing now is removing Dan Rather from the line of fire,” said Marvin Kalb, who was Rather’s colleague at CBS for 25 years.

Kalb and other journalists praised Rather as a newsman of integrity, first as a reporter and later as an anchorman after taking over the post in 1981 from his predecessor, Walter Cronkite. They particularly praised his “60 Minutes” report this year breaking the story of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse in Iraq.

“This decision to step down now gives Dan a chance to repair the damage, and he will be remembered for an awful lot of things, and [the Bush story] is only one of them,” said Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. “He’s been an utterly honest reporter.”

For many critics, Rather’s legacy will be forever tainted by the Bush story. They have long believed he displayed liberal bias at CBS, beginning with his tough reporting of the Watergate scandal under President Nixon.

“Frankly, it’s a shame that it has to end this way for Dan. In the end, he became the person he most despised, Richard Nixon,” said Matthew W. Sheffield, editor of RatherBiased.com, a website critical of the newsman. “Had Rather and the CBS management been more serious about viewer input and fairness, they would never have had to stonewall about a story they shouldn’t have run.”

Rather is ending his career as an anchorman at a time when network news faces stiff competition from opinionated and attitude-filled cable shows, whether from Fox News Channel or Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” with Jon Stewart.

As a result, network news ratings have been steadily declining in recent years, and “CBS Evening News” has been ranked No. 3 for a decade, lagging behind “NBC Nightly News” and ABC’s “World News Tonight.”

In recent months, NBC’s lead has widened substantially, according to Nielsen Media Research data. Last week, NBC’s newscast drew an average 10.8 million viewers, 43% more than CBS’ 7.5 million viewers.

“The older people in the news business may dispute the idea that network news is a dinosaur, but my guess is that the long decline in news viewership will continue after Rather’s departure,” said Marty Kaplan, associate dean at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication.

On his evening news broadcast Tuesday, Rather thanked viewers for “letting me into your homes,” and promised to keep reporting hard news stories at “60 Minutes.”

He sounded similar themes at the start of his career, when Rather cultivated an aggressive style. In 1961, his reporting of Hurricane Carla in Galveston, Texas, led to a job at CBS News.

He cemented his reputation when he broke the news of President Kennedy’s assassination for CBS Radio in 1963.

His style also led to a number of run-ins with authority figures.

Covering the chaotic 1968 Democratic National Convention, Rather was punched and knocked down by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s security agents -- live on national TV.

During the height of the Watergate scandal, Nixon accused Rather of grandstanding with aggressive questions.

“Are you running for something?” Nixon asked.

Rather’s reply: “No, sir, Mr. President. Are you?”

But at other times, some of Rather’s behavior seemed less intrepid than bizarre.

For “60 Minutes,” he trekked through the mountain paths of Afghanistan clad in a native hat and peasant clothes, an outfit that caused critics to nickname him “Gunga Dan.”

For a time, he signed off each nightly newscast with a single word: “Courage.” During a 1986 walk in New York, Rather was accosted and beaten by two men, one of whom shouted mysteriously, “Kenneth, what’s the frequency?” The incident inspired a song by the rock group R.E.M.

In 1987, he abruptly walked off the set of “CBS Evening News” after being informed that coverage of the U.S. Open tennis tournament was running long. When the tournament ended and the network switched to the news, Rather was not on camera, and stations were left with more than six minutes of dead air.

A year later, Rather had a celebrated clash with Vice President George H.W. Bush while attempting to press him on his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Bush fired back, mocking Rather’s actions during the U.S. Open and accusing him of bias.

Rather also became known for his homespun aphorisms. On election night 1996, he informed viewers that a New Hampshire Senate race was as “hot and tight as a too-small bathing suit on a too-long car ride back from the beach.”

On Tuesday, Rather’s competitors were gracious. Brokaw, in a statement released by NBC, said Rather had “always been a tough but fair competitor and a boon companion on our many common travels. I wish him well. Maybe we should get an old anchors bench together in Central Park and feed the pigeons?”

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Times staff writers Scott Collins, Sallie Hofmeister and Greg Braxton contributed to this report.

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Life and times

Oct. 1, 1931: Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. born in Wharton, Texas.

1960: Joins KHOU-TV in Houston.

1962: Becomes CBS’ Southwest bureau chief in Dallas

1963: Covers the assassination of President Kennedy.

1964: Appointed CBS White House correspondent.

1968: Involved in a scuffle with police on the floor of the Democratic National Convention.

1974: Clashes with President Nixon at a White House news conference during the Watergate scandal; the president asks if Rather is “running for something.”

1974: Publishes “The Palace Guard,” his first book.

1980: Goes to Afghanistan for a “60 Minutes” report, crossing the border in traditional Afghan garb; earns the nickname “Gunga Dan.”

1981: Becomes managing editor and anchorman of “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.”

1986: Assaulted on a New York street and is asked, mysteriously, “What is the frequency, Kenneth?”

1989: Shares anchoring duties on the “CBS Evening News” with Connie Chung.

1995: Becomes sole anchor of “CBS Evening News.”

1999: Secures an exclusive with President Clinton, the leader’s first interview following the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal and his impeachment by the House.

2003: Conducts an exclusive interview with Saddam Hussein, the first the Iraqi leader granted with an American journalist since 1991.

Sept. 20, 2004: Apologizes on the air for using unverified documents regarding President Bush’s military service in a “60 Minutes II” broadcast on Sept. 8.

Nov. 23: Announces he will step down as anchor and managing editor of the “CBS Evening News” on March 9, 2005, 24 years after his first broadcast in that position.

Sources: Baseline II Inc., news stories, wire reports. Compiled by Robin Mayper

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Honors

* 26 Emmy awards

* Six presidential elections anchoring CBS coverage

* 11 national political conventions covered

* Seven books published

* Texas birthplace dedicated as part of the Wharton County Historical Museum

* Alma mater, Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, names its journalism and communications building after him

Sources: Baseline II Inc., news stories, wire reports. Compiled by Robin Mayper