Dan Rather, former CBS News Anchor, filed a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and Viacom Inc in September of 2007. He claims that he choose to sue because government has too much influence newsrooms. Samantha Gross, Common Dreams New Center affiliate, wrote an article about Rather's claims entitled "Rather: Government Influencing Newsrooms."
Rather was fired by CBS in March of 2005, after a botched report on President Bush's military service. In an interview on Larry King Live, Rather claimed that CBS and Viacom Inc. used him as a "scapegoat" information about Bush's military record was discredited.
"Rather narrated the September 2004 report that said Bush disobeyed orders and shirked some of his duties during his national guard service. It also said a commander felt pressured to sugarcoat Bush's records."
Critics of this piece questioned the validity of the documents that this information was based on, and they suspected a forgery. A panel made up of Louis D. Boccardi, retired chief executive of The Associated Press, and Richard Thornburgh, former U.S. attorney general, determined that the story was inaccurate, thereby discrediting it. Rather, the story's producer and 3 executives were fired because of this botched report. Rather calls the panel's decision a fraud and a set-up.
The panel members defended their work by saying that it was independent and that it spoke for itself, they offered not other comments. Rather made no mention of other news channels that have been similarly influenced by the government.
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