CBS chief says Rather comments were ‘sexist’

CBS CEO Leslie Moonves has said that Dan Rather’s remarks about the CBS Evening News were “sexist.” The flap started when Rather told Joe Scarborough in a phoner on Morning Joe that “the [network’s] mistake was to try to bring the Today Show ethos to the Evening News, and to dumb it down, tart it up in hopes of attracting a younger audience.” Rather did also say that Katie Couric was a “nice person,” but Moonves appears to have interpreted Rather’s “tart” remark as a personal shot at Couric and not directed at the entire newscast product, which Rather bemoaned for playing up topics such as celebrities over war coverage.

Update: Here’s the video of the Rather interview from MSNBC.com