In an interesting turn of events, former CBS news anchor Dan Rather bashed his former CBS news show for “dumbing down” the news and “tarting it up” with the Today Show ethos. CBS’s mind-numbing response: Dan Rather’s sexist. Nice way to sweep the issue under the rug, CBS.
Now, I’m not a big fan of Dan Rather, nor am I a frequent viewer of the CBS News, but I can’t help but think that CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves pulled a card out of the “deeper issues that can be force-fit into any situation” deck rather than address the real issue at hand: the loss of hard-hitting reporting. In the midst of a newsweek that saw Paris Hilton overshadow more worthy headlines, I don’t think Dan Rather’s accusation is that far off.
Perhaps a more disturbing revelation from this quabble: Throwing around serious issues (like Sexism) willy-nilly to escape accountability. Re-reading Rather’s statement reveals that his complaint was against the direction of the news, not Katie Couric, and Moonves’ skirting the issue by playing the “sexism” card is a pitiable strategy for issues management–especially since calling an accuser sexist doesn’t change the fact that the issue still exists.
Sweeping issues under the proverbial rug is not a legitimate issues management strategy. In issues that affect the image of an organization, sometimes transparence is the best policy, even if that means owning up to a legitimate marketing strategy to woo over younger viewers.
Les Moonves’ response seems based in the idea that the word “tarting up” somehow only refers to women. Just check out Wikipedia’s entry for the multiple uses of “tart” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tart_%28disambiguation%29). This refers to men and women of a sexually provocative nature. A brief scan across online dictionary entries shows historical references to women, but modern usage clearly shows application to both sexes, not to mention items without gender. Les Moonves is either purposely taking advantage of antiquated usage, or unintentionally exposing his own aged and sexually biased lexicon. Now I need to go shower…I feel so dirty for defending Dan Rather.