Couric, Rather swap barbs and ridicule
NEW YORK - Though battles between news anchors have historically been between rival networks, today’s ripest feud is a purely CBS affair: Katie Couric vs. Dan Rather.
The rivalry took a humorous turn Thursday, when a video was posted on the Web showing Couric mocking Rather while preparing to anchor a broadcast from Nashville, Tenn., last week.
While her CBS crew prepared for the Nov. 8 evening broadcast and her makeup was applied, Couric mocked Rather. A video of Rather surfaced last month, showing the former “CBS Evening News” anchor obsessing over his appearance before a remote broadcast from Seattle, particularly questioning the wearing of a trench coat.
“I’m going to be like Dan Rather on YouTube,” joked Couric, alluding to Rather by fiddling with her coat. “Geez, don’t you think he deserves a little payback?”
She then added, laughing: “This tart is ready to go!”
Rather, who left CBS News in March 2005, in June referred to his successor as “a nice person” but said “the 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.”
The videos of Couric and Rather were posted by comedian Harry Shearer on a video Web site he co-founded.
Jen Farley, a spokeswoman for CBS, would not comment on whether someone from CBS had supplied the video.
The timing of the video coincides with a legal battle between Rather, who now does the show “Dan Rather Reports” for cable station HDNet, and CBS.
Rather is suing CBS for $20 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages, claiming his bosses made him a “scapegoat” for the controversy that arose over a disputed story about President Bush’s military service.
CBS on Thursday asked a judge to dismiss the defamation lawsuit filed against the network and its parent company, Viacom, arguing that he waited too long to take legal action.
Rather didn’t return a call Friday.