This is per a new essay that the former CBS Evening News anchor shared on Substack, in which he offers a blunt assessment of where CBS News, and 60 Minutes in particular, stand now. “There is a tendency to view this as a story about journalism and corporate finance. But more than anything it is about big business in bed with big politics to monopolize news for their benefit, not for the country as a whole,” writes Rather, suggesting that every story run on 60 Minutes from hereon out should come with an asterisk that it was approved by President Trump. “He won’t personally read the script or sanction the stories, of course, but the higher-ups know what Trump wants to see, and especially what he doesn’t. The president is no doubt thrilled at the demise of a journalistic nemesis that continually called his bluff.”
Rather also calls BS on Weiss and Bilton’s claims that part of this shakeup was to make 60 Minutes more competitive for the streaming age. “No objective-minded person would destroy something that has been the most successful news program in television history for almost six decades, made tons of money, and is the gold standard for broadcast journalism,” he writes before running down all of the viewership stats that Paramount itself shared promoting 60 Minutes just weeks ago. “In a way, the success of “60 Minutes” is the issue. If it wasn’t as good as it is and fewer people watched, the president wouldn’t care as much,” Rather continues. “[T]he nonsensical changes at the broadcast clearly are not because it is underperforming, though Weiss is trying to spin it that way… You can see for yourself it wasn’t just surviving but thriving, before she blew it up.”
That said, Rather has some hope. “The “60 Minutes” formula is replicable, with the right people, enough money, and a platform willing to air it. We have heard from a former “60 Minutes” insider that such discussions are in the works,” he continues. Is 60 Minutes about to pull a Defector? “Fingers crossed.” You can read the whole essay here.
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