Who Killed CBS?

I decided to read this book I saw on a friend's book shelf "Who Killed CBS?" by Peter J. Boyer. It is on how CBS News went from the top of the news among networks in the late 70's to the bottom of the barrel in the 80's.

What strikes me first and foremost is the power play Dan Rather used to become anchor of the evening news. All the moves were calculated and he was somewhat of a renegade. Reading the book, two thoughts occurred to me:

1. How did this last until 2006?

2. It was just a matter of time that a scandal (the fraudulent George W. Bush document on his military service) would bring this man down.

Now, reading of the book, I do not think Rather is extremely political one way or the other. He is just does not trust anyone and has to know every intimate detail, a micro-manager. So, fast forward to 2004. It is hard for someone who has to know everything to shift blame on another person.

Next, the book talks about the "old guard" of respected new journalism (Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, and many others whose names are not as well known who made CBS a great new organization). The comparison of the old guard was made to the New York Times, the "paper of record." This book was published in 1989, when the New York Times was still relatively good.

There were many factors to the downfall and to put blame on one camp and one camp alone would be wrong. However, it is interesting to note the news cast went from hard news to more entertainment and emotional "sap." What is interesting is that this may be a reason print journalism has gone from excellent to pretty much crap.

The New York Times is accused of being political-leaning. It may not be necessarily political leaning, but the coverage is going down the drain.

This is a must-read, in my opinion.