CBS Evening News EP Kaplan: “We’re Very Proud Of Doing A Hard News Show”

First on TVNewser: Some of Dan Rather‘s former colleagues think his recent comments “were incredibly sexist.”

Women at CBS News, including female correspondents, “were especially outraged,” CBS Evening News executive producer Rick Kaplan told TVNewser tonight.

“The truth is, we’re very proud of doing a hard news show, and it’s important to the network and to us that we do a hard news show,” he said.

“A lot of the people that he was criticizing when he was criticizing the product, they believe in Katie and they believe in the show. These are people who put their bodies on the line when he was [the anchor], and they felt really disappointed that he felt the need to do something like this.

They don’t like to be told they’re not doing a hard news show because they damn well are.”

Kaplan added: “Clearly he hasn’t watched the program. Clearly he has absolutely not watched the Evening News.”