Dan Rather Retires, Again

CBS announced today that Dan Rather will leave the network this week, five months before his contract expires in November. Rather announced his retirement from CBS Evening News in November 2004 after he aired a report on President Bush’s National Guard Service based on documents that turned out to be fake. It took Rather 10 days to fess up to the mistake, prompting Slate’s Jack Shafer to ask why he waited so long. Bryan Curtis concluded that Rather was, in fact, bonkers. In the wake of the scandal, Rather became a full-time investigative reporter at the network, and Slate’s Dana Stevens analyzed what his new role meant for CBS and the news in general.