Rather to Cover Sino-Soviet Summit

Last February, what some called the Battle of the Burberrys erupted when trench-coated Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings went to Japan to cover the funeral of Emperor Hirohito and report on the changing social, economic and political conditions there.

Next week, though, only CBS’ Rather of network anchordom’s Big Three will be in China anchoring coverage of the Sino-Soviet summit meeting of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and China’s Deng Xiaoping, the first such meeting since 1958.

Rather will have a cable competitor: CNN’s Bernard Shaw, who, backed by three correspondents, also will be anchoring there, starting Sunday, when he’ll do three live newscasts, starting at 4 p.m. PDT.

ABC and NBC will have correspondents in China--three for NBC and four for ABC, including one for ABC’s “Nightline.” But anchormen Peter Jennings of ABC and Tom Brokaw of NBC are staying home this time, their networks say.

The CBS expedition is by no means as ambitious as the $2.5-million pilgrimage the network mounted for the Japan trip, when Rather’s newscast, “48 Hours” and “CBS This Morning” all originated from Tokyo.

But five CBS correspondents will be part of a week’s worth of “CBS Evening News” broadcasts from China that start Monday, preceded by a special 90-minute “Sunday Morning” that Charles Kuralt will anchor from there.

In addition to reporting whatever news emerges from next week’s summit, all three networks and CNN will be doing stories that seek perspective on the meeting and what all this means for communism.

Rather considers the CBS expedition part of what he calls a “new wave” in network news coverage.

“We believe that network news is sometimes at its best when it’s concentrating on those things that affiliated stations either cannot do, or choose not to do themselves,” he said.

Another reason for the China trip, he said, is to strike more of a balance in foreign coverage, giving the Pacific Rim as much attention as the Atlantic side.

Asserting that print and TV journalism “historically has been too European-focused,” he said he’s “trying to get us to have more balance between looking across the Atlantic and looking across the Pacific.”

Rather, who first went to China in 1972, covering President Richard Nixon’s historic trip, also says that being on the scene again in a much-changed China will help him deal with future stories about that nation.

“I just don’t think, from a windowless room on the West Side of Manhattan, that you can expect to be in touch with the world simply through technology,” he said. “You’ve got to be a wear-out-shoe-leather, go-there reporter at least some of the time. Otherwise, you’re out of touch.”

While ABC’s Jennings isn’t going to China, a network spokeswoman said that he and “World News Tonight” will broadcast from Brussels and London, starting May 29, as part of ABC’s coverage of the coming NATO meetings.

A CBS spokeswoman said that it’s expected that Rather and his “CBS Evening News” also will will do that. An NBC spokeswoman said there are no plans for Brokaw’s “NBC Nightly News” to make that trip.