Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove posted an article describing an increasing pettiness between Dan Rather and CBS. In it, he describes the claims that are being “floated by the Rather camp” regarding Walter Cronkite‘s funeral and memorial as well as supposed attempts by CBS to “erase” Dan Rather from its history:
The latest contretemps involve such momentous issues as: whether the forced-out anchorman, who held the job for 24 years, would be welcomed at the recent funeral and memorial service for his legendary predecessor, Walter Cronkite;…whether an independent filmmaker hoping to make a Rather documentary would be granted access to CBS News archival footage; and whether CBS, in Orwellian style, is trying to make Rather a non-person and erase him from the corporate memory.
TVNewser was at the memorial service and watched as several of Rather’s former correspondent and producer colleagues received him warmly. The footage matter is more complicated/sillier sounding:
CBS refused Rather’s request to purchase archival material from his four decades at the network (although he does, per his severance agreement, have access to the video and photos that were used in a one-hour special on his career that aired when he stopped anchoring The CBS Evening News in 2005). What’s more, CBS recently denied archival material to an independent filmmaker exploring the possibility of a Rather documentary.
Grove notes there are conflicting accounts by a CBS spokesperson and the director of the documentary of how that transpired. CBS maintains the director was looking for disparaging material.
It’s just like that scene in “Back to the Future” where Marty’s family is disappearing from that picture, except more boring.