Predictably, Les Moonves’ reaction to Dan Rather’s criticism of CBS’s decision to take its evening newscast ‘lite’ with Katie Couric is to portray himself as defending her honour – a Prince Valiant, no less. AP quotes Moonves as saying that Couric should get a break, having been on the air for only nine months. By which he presumably means give him a break, as Couric’s sliding ratings give unwelcome attention to Moonves’ original decision to back her. But enough about you, Les. And why is playing the victim such a ‘thing’ in the media biz?
Rather has now responded, and Mark Cuban has jumped in too. Moonves’ problem – and everyone else’s problem in TV ‘news’ as well – is that the hairdo with a microphone strategy that Moonves and his ilk have been pushing for years now is going to get tired awfully fast as viewers get more comfortable with the improving choices available online. Underestimating the audience only works well when they have nowhere else to go.
Update: Predictably, CBS execs get all ad hominem on Rather, and once again play the passive-aggressive-victim angle: “We had to build back from when Dan left,” Kaplan said. “What’s really upsetting is that the same people are still here doing the news as when Dan left; those are the people he’s criticizing. A lot of people at CBS are disappointed that he said that.”.
