RATHER GOOD: Nearly five years in as anchor and managing editor of HDNet’s “Dan Rather Reports,” the august newsman is polishing up “Summing Up,” a memoir due out in the spring. Rather said the book will examine “things I have lived” from the late Nineties on, including his CBS Evening News departure.
“I cannot remember a time when I have enjoyed myself professionally as much as I do now,” said Rather, who logged 43 years at the network before exiting in 2005. The following year, the broadcaster, who has been known to be vocal about the media’s need to ask hard-hitting questions, set up his own company, News and Guts Media. Apparently, HDNet’s founder, Mark Cuban (who owns the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks), has lived up to his promise that Rather would have complete editorial and creative control of the weekly hour-long investigative journalistic show. “This is an unprecedented, liberating and joyful experience for me,” he said.
The 79-year-old has also brought home some hardware in the process. “Dan Rather Reports” has been nominated for three Emmys and took home one in 2008 for News and Documentary.