SOUR GRAPES DAN, SOUR GRAPES

Cable news networks make Dan Ra^ther cry like a little girl...

Addressing the Fordham University School of Law in Manhattan, occasionally forcing back tears, he said that in the intervening years, politicians "of every persuasion" had gotten better at applying pressure on the conglomerates that own the broadcast networks. He called it a "new journalism order."

He said this pressure — along with the "dumbed-down, tarted-up" coverage, the advent of 24-hour cable competition and the chase for ratings and demographics — has taken its toll on the news business. "All of this creates a bigger atmosphere of fear in newsrooms," Rather said.

My goodness Danny boy, it must hurt to find yourself held to objective standards by forces outside your control. To have competition and opposing view points get equal time. How it must pain you to quote sources and provide backup for stories and allegations. Shouldn't your word be good enough? Does it make you want to scream "what's the frequency Kenneth!?"

I'm sure Dan Ra^ther misses the good ol' days when there were only 3 networks that could restrict and control what people watched and the information they were spoon fed. The days when he was like an information god bestowing tru^th on the great unwashed masses so that they might share in all the wisdom that was The Ra^ther.

Hmm, was this post snarky? It was? Good - that's what I was going for.