CBS
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By Lisa Sarrach
CBS and Viacom have a much larger issue to deal with than just this latest imbroglio over Dan Rather and his now uniformly discredited memos.
Not that losing your status as a premiere news organization isn’t a big deal but when you put Rathergate together with Janet Jackson’s breast, Howard Stern and his battles with the FCC, The Reagans TV Movie debacle, and a weekly prime time slot for the latest Bush bashing author, it appears the cancer isn’t contained within CBS News but has metastasized throughout all the Viacom companies.
So it really shouldn’t surprise any of us that CBS is circling the wagons around Dan Rather and his latest attack on a Republican president named Bush.
It’s not just Dan Rather that doesn’t like Republicans and conservative values; it’s all of Viacom which includes CBS Entertainment, CBS News, MTV Networks and Infinity Radio.
Just during the course of the last year, CBS and Viacom have had to deal with an increasingly irate public over decisions made at the top by executives who obviously don’t have a clue.
They don’t have a clue about the rest of us in the country who don’t live on either coast, but dwell in the heartland, who are trying to raise our families in an increasingly hostile media environment that not only insults our intelligence, but does harm to our children.
This latest onslaught on our sensibilities began with last Fall’s “The Reagans”, a patently obvious attempt to slur the legacy of the former president that was so egregious, CBS was forced to cancel the heavily promoted film and relegate it to its sister cable network, Showtime.
Then we were treated to a half time show at the Super Bowl, normally safe for family viewing, that was produced by another sister network, MTV, and included the now infamous Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction; such a gift for the kiddies.
Spring brought with it, new fines for Howard Stern’s trash talking nationally syndicated radio show from the Infinity Radio Network, another Viacom company and the weekly trickle of Bush bashing authors on CBS’s 60 minutes, many of whose candor and truthfulness have since been called into question with nary a retraction issued by CBS executives or reporters.
Yes, CBS and Viacom have long since declared war on conservatives, heartland values and President Bush.
Now we have come full circle with CBS’s year in the harsh spotlight and we conclude with “Rathergate.” This latest example of blatant political partisanship should be the final nail in the coffin of Dan Rather’s career. It should also put an end to any hope CBS may have had to recoup its reputation as a serious news organization.
The house that Ed Morrow and William Palely built does, at last, appear to be gone forever.
We will miss what CBS used to be, we will not miss what it has become.
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Lisa Sarrach is president of Hollywood-Hero (www.hollywood-hero.us), GOPUSA.COM (www.gopusa.com) national columnist and freelance writer focusing on cultural and domestic policy issues. You can contact her at lsarrach@hollywood-hero.us.