You cover Dan Rather and his mistakes over the George Bush story. Did his lawsuit over that issue come out in between the book's completion and release date? What's your take on it? Your book seems to suggest Rather was at fault in that he pushed for broadcasting the story while others were telling him to wait and slow down, which would suggest his lawsuit will go no where.
The lawsuit was filed shortly after I finished the book, but having covered the National Guard debacle at the time and done more research for the book, I was not surprised by the depth of his continuing resentment toward CBS. I have consideration admiration for Dan Rather, but there's no question that he rushed to air with a badly flawed story based on documents that could not be authenticated, and paid a very high price for that. It was sad to see his CBS career end that way.
Why do you call this book the Last Great Television War?
By the time the next television news war rolls around in a decade or so, I doubt there will be the kind of interest there is in this one. It has the feel of one last great battle in the struggle for survival as more and more news migrates to the Net.
I'll send him more question - part 2 of 2 - in about two weeks. Thanks to Mr. Kurtz for this interview
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