Dan Rather: Deadlines and Datelines

As is often the case when i don't feel like reading assigned texts, last night i ventured into my neighborhood independent bookstore, browsed for a bit, and walked out with four new acquisitions - Deadlines and Datelines by Dan Rather, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (my previous copy mysteriously disappeared en route to a friend), Fame & Folly by Cynthis Ozick, and The Future of Music by David Kusek.  I opened Deadlines and Datelines first.

I can't say much of Dan Rather's reporting.  I know the past few years brought scandal with forged documents, but i've never really watched television news programs, so any assessment of his television reports would be based on secondhand rumors at best. With regard to his writing though, i am extremely disappointed.  He's terrible.  These essays are worthless.  He doesn't ever actually make a point.  He offers superficial details of the situation and tosses in a couple of quotes from affiliated individuals.  The essays are short - but not short enough to warrant a complete lack of content.

I'll probably finish off the book, in part because it sparks recollections of significant events over the past twenty years or so (e.g. the Oklahoma City Bombing, Microsoft's First Anti-Trust Trial, Waco, Jonesboro), and because the lack of substance makes it a very quick read.  I'm not yet sure whether i should find it depressing or inspiring, though; on one hand, it's depressing that someone with such little to add to the discussion can be deemed the one the nation turns to for information on important events, but on the other, it's almost inspiring to recognize the limited talents necessary to acheive fame.

Edit: Also, i find more than a little irony in the fact that his longest and most well-developed essay (from 1999), focuses upon the potential pitfalls of internet news, since there's no managing editor to ensure that only accurate information makes it into reports.