Dan Rather Speaks on the 50th Anniversary of His Most Important Story

BY EMMA THOMSON

Fifty years after he broke the news that President John F. Kennedy had been killed, Dan Rather joined The Kalb Report at the National Press Club to talk about his experiences as a journalist covering the president’s assassination from Dallas. The former anchor of the CBS Evening News sat down with Marvin Kalb to give his firsthand account of the events surrounding Kennedy’s death.

His Story

On Nov. 22, 1963, CBS assigned the Texas native to coordinate media coverage for a “routine political visit”. Rather was stationed at the underpass where the president’s motorcade was scheduled to culminate when he saw what he believed to be Kennedy’s limousine speed by him.

It was not until Rather rushed to the local CBS station to complete a film drop that he heard Kennedy had been shot. The wires at the station began to run as the news broke.

“Every reporter’s emotions just kicked in,” he said.

Knowing the phone lines would soon be busy, Rather placed three calls to the hospital where Kennedy had been taken. Although a nurse hung up on him the first time he called, Rather eventually was able to speak to a doctor and a priest, who both confirmed the president indeed had been shot and was dead.

The word of doctors and a priest was enough evidence for Rather. 

“When you’ve got a dead man, you’ve got a dead man,” Rather said.

Although television broadcasts would wait until the official White House announcement to break the news to the American people, CBS immediately played the Star Spangled Banner and announced that Kennedy had been assassinated.

During the four-day ordeal, Rather relied on his journalism fundamentals to report the facts to the American people. This allowed him to calmly break the tragic news during one of the most emotional experiences of his life.

“When a sledgehammer hits your heart, your instincts kick in,” he said.  “You’re a reporter…and you’ve got a dead man.”

Rather attributes his news instincts to helping him avoid a potential disaster as he covered Kennedy’s death. When Kalb mentioned that he would have been terrified to break such immense news without official confirmation, Rather reminded him that when things are in chaos, simply reporting was more important than anything else. 

“If you had been there, you or any reporter, your instincts would have kicked in,” he said.

Kalb and Rather discussed the role of journalism in the Kennedy coverage. Both pointed out that the assassination was the beginning of the, “TV age as we knew it.” Comparing earlier work to modern journalism, Rather said past journalism had been less bias and more honest.

“[The coverage of Kennedy’s death] was the spine of American journalism,” he said. “Most journalists were honest brokers of information.”

Rather related the Kennedy assassination news reporting to the coverage of 9/11. He called the two national tragedies, “bookends of the television news era.” According to him, TV news came of age during the four day programming following the Kennedy assassination and lost headway in the digital era following 9/11.  

Conspiracy Theories

Rather is for the most part quick to dismiss potential conspiracies surrounding Kennedy’s death. He believes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone and Jack Ruby was the person who killed Oswald.

“An assassin assassinated in the police station, you can’t make this stuff up!” Rather said.

He emphasized the necessity to analyze the Kennedy assassination with facts and not emotion.

“We’re entitled to our own opinions,” he said. “But we’re not entitled to our own facts.”

GW connection

Many members of the GW community attended Friday’s School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) sponsored event.

Steve Mukherjee, who earned an engineering management degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) in 1979, said he was thrilled to see Rather that evening. Although Mukherjee was in a small Indian town when he heard that Kennedy had been shot, he still values the veteran journalist’s work surrounding the assassination.

Rather is, “The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be,” he said. 

Other attendees included Provost Steven Lerman and SMPA Director Frank Sesno. Lerman, who was in his seventh grade gym class when he heard that Kennedy was dead, said that the opportunity to attend the Kalb Report was an educational and exciting opportunity for GW students. As a broadcast journalism veteran, Sesno emphasized the importance of television reporting during the coverage surrounding the assassination. 

Several GW students had the opportunity to ask Kalb and Rather questions following the program. Junior Omeed Firouzi asked Rather how President Lyndon Johnson was affected by the Kennedy assassination. After the event, Firouzi said he was excited to hear Rather’s “unique vantage” of the events surrounding Kennedy’s death.

“Rather lived through the events,” Firouzi said. “He is a primary source.”  

However, the man of the hour did not try to venture into the unknown. On Kennedy’s legacy and the what-ifs surrounding his administration cut short, Rather does not speculate on the “would have beens.”

“We’ll never know,” he said. “It ended too soon to judge.” 

The accomplished journalist still considers the story the biggest of his career. When he was asked which network had the best coverage of the assassination and following events, Rather replied with a sheepish grin.

“CBS,” he said. As if he had any other option. 

Three Minutes with Mayor Cory Booker

The College Democrats hosted Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker as their year-end speaker Sunday night in SMPA's Jack Morton Auditorium.

The Democratic Mayor made headlines last week when he helped rescue a neighbor from her burning house after it caught fire, but focused the majority of his speech on his professional experiences as a Newark city council member and mayor. He also shared stories about his personal development, coming out of  Yale Law School as a passionate idealist and learning the realities of inner-city life while living in a Newark public-housing project.

His speech emphasized faith and positivity in his life, including the "conspiracy of love" from the unsung and often anonymous individuals who helped him along the way.

WRGW News caught up with Mayor Booker after his speech to talk about health care, bipartisanship and working with Governor Chris Christie. Listen below:

Three Minutes with Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker by Wrgw_News on Mixcloud

-Joseph Rabinowitz

Chuck Todd Interview (audio)

SMPA Director Frank Sesno's November "Conversation Series" continues at 7:30 tonight with NBC News Chief White House Correspondent and Political Director Chuck Todd. Sesno and Todd will discuss the chances of President Obama and the Republican candidates in the 2012 election, as well as the 24-hour media coverage around it. The Jack Morton Auditoriun will open its doors at 7:00 pm. The event is sold out, but all unoccupied seats will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis to early comers who join the standby line. The event is free and open to the public.

Todd gave WRGW News' Jorge Gadala-Maria a live, on-air preview of tonight's event earlier this afternoon. Listen and download below.

 Chuck Todd on the GOP Primaries and 2012 Election - Nov 28th, 2011 by WRGW News

http://www.mediafire.com/?z0f30ypj0pqmsf6

Ex-Democratic Congressman Critical of Obama at SMPA Event

A few notable politicians, journalists, and a political scientist sat down for a discussion as a part of the Center for Innovation Media’s Conversation Series at Jack Morton Auditorium Monday evening. The discussion, entitled “Broken Politics, Mixed-up Media: Can This Be Fixed?," focused on the current divided government and its coverage by the media. 

Moderated by SMPA Director Frank Sesno, the panel included CNN’s senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash, former Utah Republican Senator and SMPA Distinguished Professional Fellow Bob Bennett, former Tennessee Democratic Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and GW political science professor John Sides. 

During the opening questions, Sesno asked Bennett and Ford about the health of our government. 

“[Government is] broken. The people are not happy,” Bennett said. 

 Sesno pressed the question on Ford: “Do you think this president is leading?” 

“I don’t think he’s leading. I don’t think he’s been an effective [leader],” Ford replied. 

Dana Bash, a journalist covering the day-to-day Congressional activities, commented that “adults” are hard to find in Congress. 

Bennett commented that his father, Wallace Bennett, a former Utah senator, would have fellow legislators at his apartment during his tenure in the Untied States Senate. Nowadays, Bennett says legislators are too busy to get to know each other. 

At the heart of the problem, Professor Sides said that the “[political parties] have become further apart than before,” noting the increased polarization. To have success in the polarized political environment, Sides suggested, “Get your brand of crazy on the ballot.” 

While Bennett sees the root of the problem as being the congressional redistricting process every decade, Ford claims that legislators are learning more about electioneering than policy. 

Bennett says it is a “reaffirmation of what the Republican Party was founded on,” but called the Tea Party a movement without any “real solutions.” Ford said the Tea Party has a “manifesto that isn’t all that bad.” 


Bennett was defeated by now Senator Mike Lee at the Utah Republican convention in 2010. He claims he ran a traditional campaign, but recognizes the lack of a social media aspect that led Lee to win the Republican nomination for Bennett’s senate seat. In order to fix our broken government, Ford says, “Obama has to be more of a leader. The best time to solve big issues is when government is divided.”

DHS Secretaries See National Security As An Enterprise

Secretaries Ridge, Chertoff and Napolitano spoke before an SMPA audience

The three recent secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security met for a panel discussion about the department’s evolution and future at SMPA’s Jack Morton Auditorium Tuesday evening. 

The panel included the first, second and current secretaries of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff and Janet Napolitano, respectively, marking the first time the institute had all three secretaries at GW on the same panel. Admiral Thad Allen, distinguished professor of practice at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, moderated the panel.

“I saw a decade of my life collide simultaneously,” said GW’s Homeland Security Policy Institute Director Frank Cilluffo.

Tom Ridge viewed the DHS like a “holding company.” As the first secretary of the department, Ridge saw infrastructure and integration as key components to building DHS. Ridge said the current challenge is consistency with other cabinet departments.

Chertoff claims there are several challenges that the department faces today. Some of these challenges include joint culture and the ability to share information, lack of a finite leadership structure laying out who exactly is in charge and overall expectations.

“The need to bring together a department that embodies a new doctrine and one that spans across several departments was a challenge in and of itself,” said Chertoff.

Napolitano says DHS is all about building the department, adaptation to the cabinet, and identifying threats. Napolitano claims the creation of DHS was the largest reorganization since Department of Defense and other departments are still accommodating the creation of DHS.

Looking into the future, Napolitano commented on the budget and how it has strained the development of the department.

“The budget has put a premium on what [DHS] can do,” Napolitano said.

When determining budget priorities, Napolitano often finds herself asking, “What is the right mix between manpower and technology?”

In response to whether a divided government negatively impacts national security, Chertoff said the situation is twofold. Divided government does not negatively impact national security, “But it presents challenges [in which] surprise agreement happens on the basis of security,” Chertoff said.

The other secretaries offered more criticism of government polarization.

“Separation of powers has created a problem with the creation of the department,” said Napolitano, adding that the government lacks strategic oversight for the DHS.

Ridge concluded that divided government acts as on obstacle slowing down Congress and the executive branch.

Obama Presents Debt Reduction Plan at GWU

President Obama announced his plan to reduce the United State's national debt today to a crowd of dignitaries and students in GWU's Jack Morton Auditorium .  Titled "The Country We Believe In", the 45-minute speech outlined his proposal to combine both spending cuts and tax increases in an attempt to shave $4 trillion off of the national debt over the next twelve years.

The President first opened with some levity, joking that one reason he wanted to speak at GWU was to give students "one more reason to skip class."  Obama wasted no time, however, turning to the issue at hand, the national debt.

The White House has been at pains in recent days to underscore the "balance" of the President's proposal, and Obama quickly worked to establish a theme of duality that would endure throughout his speech.  Focusing first on the history of the role of government in the United States, Obama acknowledged that Americans were a self-reliant people "with a healthy skepticism of too much government."

However, the President contrasted this individuality with what he believed to be the interconnected nature of the American people.  Specifically citing the role of Social Security and Medicare, he asserted that "we would not be the great country we are today without those commitments."

BREAKING NEWS: Sec. of State Clinton to Speak at GW this Tuesday

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be coming to GW this Tuesday February 15th. Clinton will be delivering a speech on “Internet Rights And Wrongs: Choices; Challenges In A Networked World" at approximately 12:30 p.m. at the Jack Morton Auditorium, on the first floor of the School of Media and Public Affairs building.

The speech was described as "major" in a statement released late Friday afternoon by the Office of Media Relations for George Washington University.

Check back with WRGWNews.com for coverage of the event next week.

Former Press Secretaries Reflect on White House, Presidency, and Social Media

On Monday, four former White House Press Secretaries joined School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) Director Frank Sesno for a discussion on their experiences in the White House. Ari Fleischer and Dana Perino, from President George W Bush’s administration, and Mike McCurry and Dee Dee Meyers, from President Bill Clinton’s administration, spoke about shaping the image of their respective administration and their limited role in forming policy. Joe Lockhart, also from the Clinton administration, was slated to attend but was unable due to complications from a recent surgery.

Describing the event as the biggest of the semester for SMPA, Sesno began by reflecting on the years between Meyers and Perino, respectively the earliest secretary and most recent secretary on the panel. “When Dee Dee Meyers started her job there were fifty websites,” said Sesno to an audience of students, journalists, and media at Lisner Auditorium. In addition, Sesno reflected on the impact of social media. Sesno jokingly said, “When [Dana Perino] tweets, the world listens.”

Questions to the panel were fielded online from attendees prior to the event. On one question, pertaining to the changing format of the press, McCurry said, “It’s a real danger if we believe all media should be freely available. We need to pay for the content that matters.” The last question of evening asked how students could get close to becoming a press secretary. Perino suggested that GW students should take advantage of DC’s unique opportunities and “take the deputy job.”

Larry King Visits SMPA and Talks With Frank Sesno

As part of The School of Media and Public Affairs ongoing “Conversation series” The George Washington University had the distinct privilege to host Larry King Thursday afternoon.

In front of a crowd of about 200 students, faculty, and outside attendants in the Jack Morton Auditorium, the usual roles were reversed, as SMPA director Frank Sesno conducted the interview with Mr. King as his guest.

Mr. King described the luck he has had over the course of his career. After the death of his father, he claimed, he “lost interest in school,” leading to his choice to skip college. He did, however, have a dream to go into radio, one that would lead him to a small Miami station, WAHR. After learning the trade, young Larry Zeiger, was presented with an opportunity to host his own show.

Immediately before going on the air, the station manager informed him, Mr. King explained, that he would have to change his name, Zeiger was simply too complicated for the radio. Quickly flipping through a newspaper, an advertisement for King’s Wholesale Liquors inspired his now famous moniker.

After leaving radio to switch over to television, he described his job as host for “Miami Undercover,” moderating debates about contemporary issues, the first step on his path to global stardom as a world-renowned interviewer.

Though the next segment of the interview was mixed with personal anecdotes about his show, “Larry King Live,” many of them funny, Mr. King proceeded to speak directly to the SMPA students, giving them important lessons about journalism and life.

Perhaps one of the most important issues, one that bothers him about news anchors today, is the fact that some journalists have large egos. Instead of simply letting the guest speak, they often include themselves too much in the conversation, using the word “I,” which, as Mr. King explained, rarely shows up in his diction.

It’s important to let the interviewee speak because that’s where the knowledge comes from, a fact that allows Mr. King “to go to college each and every night” because, as he explained, “I never learned anything while I was talking.”

Mr. King also emphasized the point that it’s important to remain calm, no matter who’s sitting in front of you. They’re just people, he stated, “they put their pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else.”

Lastly, he criticized the 24-hour news cycle because it forces organizations, such as CNN, to “run with things” and air a story even if all the facts haven’t been collected yet.

Recently, he stated, his show was contacted by the Guinness Book of World Records, and was presented with the award for longest running show in television history with the same network and the same host. Thinking back about all he’s done, Larry King humbly stated that through all the fame and success, “I’m basically still a little Jewish kid from Brooklyn.”

Broadcasting Legends Talk Murrow and More With SMPA Students

Former CBS News Chief Diplomatic Correspondent Marvin Kalb and director Robert Vitarelli attended an evening devoted to legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow hosted by SMPA professors Mike Freedman and Kerric Harvey in the Jack Morton Auditorium last night. The evening started with a presentation of George Clooney’s “Good Night and Good Luck” and concluded with a discussion with Kalb and Vitarelli on everything from working with Murrow to the future of journalism.

Kalb and Vitarelli discussed the realistic recreation of the 1950s newsroom in Clooney’s Academy Award-nominated film, especially the environment of fear and suspicion at CBS News during McCarthy era America.

The only major inconsistency between film and reality that the distinguished speakers highlighted was the downplay of Clooney’s Fred Friendly character. While their memories of Friendly are of a larger-than-life personality, Kalb and Vitarelli claimed Clooney made a reasonable choice in his more modest acting approach so as to not distract from the Murrow character.

As the last correspondent personally hired by Murrow, Kalb has quite a unique perspective on the renowned newsman. Kalb advised the aspiring journalists in the crowd to use Murrow as an example of reporting at its finest. “There will never be another Murrow,” said Kalb. “Don’t try to be him.”

Kalb lamented the emphasis on speed over quality in the modern news environment, suggesting the journalism students in the audience take their time and craft well written stories rather than turn in hurried or inaccurate copy.

Kalb and Vitarelli ended on an optimistic note, encouraging the students to value producing a good program over simply getting air time. Kalb concluded that the most important lesson from Murrow and “Good Night and Good Luck” is to fight for a story worth telling.

Joshua King and "Polioptics: Packaged Political Persuasion"

“Chicken or Egg?”

This was the question Joshua King asked of his audience Tuesday night in the Marvin Center Amphitheater as he concluded his presentation entitled “Polioptics: Packaged Political Persuasion.” The event, sponsored by the School of Media and Public Affairs, the Graduate School of Political Management, and the GW College Democrats, focused on King’s experience as a former aide to the Clinton administration. He designed the way in which the president was viewed by the public in any and all realms, from public to private. His presentation touched on how recent presidents, i.e. from Reagan to Obama, and their imagery affect culture and vice versa.

Thus the question: Chicken or Egg? Is it an American obsession with marketing that has changed our culture, or has culture changed how we market aspects of society as important as our government officials? King’s career provided him with an insider perspective of this phenomenon, orchestrating how Clinton was presented to the world. His presentation was filled with literal architectural sketches of presidential events, rallies, meetings with foreign dignitaries, and everything in between. These events were all put together with the knowledge that image can make or break a story - and history.

King showed images and recounted tales of gaffes and epic moments in the past 29 years, from Reagan's walk with Nancy through a cemetery in Normandy to Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” sign declaring the end of combat in Iraq. He brought laughter to the room with anecdotes and images of the past and present, including a screen capture of Obama’s purported "evil eye" from the Drudge Report.

Imagery of the president today means something entirely different from King’s tenure, a point he himself admitted. Mostly, he said, technology has changed our ability to get information and images of the President. But our desire for information on any and all aspects of the President’s life has kept the business of political persuasion afloat.

Now, we can view hundreds of photos of the president throughout his day almost immediately after they’re taken via the Internet. Political imagery today is less packaged than King’s time. Today, the best images are lucky images captured with the simple fortune of being in the right place in the right time. It is these images that ultimately define presidential history.

Earth Op-Ed

The debate on energy dependence and global climate change is often considered a partisan issue. But SMPA Professor Frank Sesno plans to bring all viewpoints to the table in a new forum which will promote a dynamic and unpredictable exchange of opinion.

The working title is Earth Op-Ed and it will be taking place on several media platforms, centering around a website and television show aired on public affairs programming. Earth Op-Ed will bring together people to exchange ideas, get information and engage in debate.

Sesno says that he hopes the project will be dynamic, interesting and fresh and he believes that, if done right, it will establish a leadership position for the George Washington University in both the global warming debate and in cross-platform media as a whole. The concept will be a university-based initiative, with several students and faculty members getting involved, and the television program to be shot on campus, in the Jack Morton Auditorium.

Sesno stressed above everything else that this is not a liberal activism platform. Rather, he plans to engage students, schools, advocates and interest groups from all sides of the debate the get and informative and engaging dialogue going.

Plans are still tentative, but Sesno aims to getting airing the show within the first 100 days of the new Presidential administration. Currently, his team is working on fundraising, and Sesno reports that they have already garnered over half of the funds needed to begin the project. They are also engaging potential partners and sponsors fro the operation and are recruiting students and faculty to get involved.

-Alex Laska