So Dan Rather is retiring. Awesome.

I didn't really give two flips about Dan Rather, or any other anchorman for that matter, until that debacle in September with Bush's forged National Guard records. I still fume about that. I'm still boycotting 60 minutes. If you're going to broadcast items that are going to smear reputations, shouldn't your team be more careful that the proof is really proof? I mean if someone as high profile as the president of the US is subject to a smear campaign so transparent that it was public knowledge in 24 hours, what about some little person, like me? I'm not doing anything at all exciting which would draw the attention of 60 minutes (well other than our fabulous wedding, of course!), but let's say that somehow, I was. If 60 minutes came up with forged documents saying I did something wrong, there isn't a whole blogosphere fact-checking the program for us little people. Which is why I think the immediate behavior, and worse, the follow up behavior, is so wrong. The "Ok, the documents were fake, but really, it's true, so who cares" approach combined with the "who are these little people to question us" approach leaves more open questions than a reporter should. Edward R Murrow would surely cringe.

Sooooo.... See ya, Dan. Don't let the screen door hit you on your way out.
- posted by cam @ 1:45 PM