Rather: “We’ve Taken Some Heavy Shots. Wounded But Not Slain.”

Dan Rather defends CBS News and his reporting in an interview with TV Guide’s Stephen Battaglio. Here are two highlights from the interview, which appears in the March 6 edition:

What was your reaction to CBS chief Leslie Moonves’ plans to change the format of the CBS Evening News after you leave? They don’t ask me what I think and they have no obligation to ask me. You have to keep up with the times. Ed Murrow and the Murrow boys were great innovators. How we innovate is the key. If we don’t change the DNA of CBS News, I think we’ll do fine. If this new thing launches, I’ll do my best to support it. If they prefer I shut up, I’ll do that.

And on the subject of the Memogate report, Rather says he has accepted it, and that “there is no sense going back over it.”

Some people have said the firings didn’t go high enough. What do you think? I wish we hadn’t let go the people we did. It wasn’t my decision to make… If I went to Times Square this afternoon and immolated myself, I’m perfectly aware that some people would say, ‘He didn’t suffer enough. It wasn’t painful enough.’ I’ve always understood if you’re a reporter worthy of a name, not everybody’s going to love you.