I think Dan Rather has put at least three memoirs out into the world by now, with plenty of potential to write more in the future. This one does trace his full life and career, but there's heavy focus on the years before and after his dismissal from CBS. While Rather was clearly in the field or the anchor's chair for lots of major historic events and offers some helpful insight into them as they developed, the vendetta against the Viacom C-suite was a bit much. ( )

Part autobiography, part an indictment of CBS and the news media in general for giving up truly independent news reporting if they think it will not benefit their bottom line. Whet Rather is referencing are a couple events late in his career at CBS. The most profound being the evident which eventually gets him drummed off the network - his report about George W. Bush mystery service in the Texas Air National Guard. Rather says that since that time information that was used in his report has been validated but that Sumner Redstone and the head honchos at the network didn't really want John Carey elected anyway and didn't want to anger the Bush administration and his followers as it would negatively impact their bottom line. He looks nostalgically back at the era of William Paley and other media leaders who had the balls to back independent reporting. I thought the book was very thought provoking and that Rather is spot on in his analysis. He does offer hope in the end through people like Mark Cuban who is supporting his news magazine show on an internet network that he owns. Cuban has inspired him to believe that their is still a place for true independent reportage. ( )

This book by one of the elder statesmen of American journalism is part memoir, part reflection, part ringing condemnation, and all Rather. Opening with the events that led to his ouster from CBS News, Rather then reverts back to his childhood and his early interest in reporting the news, following that love of journalism from elementary school into college and beyond. As Rather recounts the work of his early years at CBS (the civil rights movement, the Kennedy assassination, his time in Washington with LBJ and Nixon), it is clear this book is more a highlights reel than an in-depth professional memoir. Regardless, the tidbits he shares are fascinating and simply whet the reader's appetite for more. Eventually Rather returns to the topic of his departure from CBS, outlining his eventual decision to file suit against CBS to try to clear his reputation, and his subsequent work on HDNet.

I found the book a bit uneven as a reader. The details of Rather's personal life were extremely interesting and I wish there had been more of them, especially about his family life once he was married and a father of two; it seemed from the book that his career always took precedence over his family but that may just be the result of trying to keep his private life private. Either way, it is clear that his wife Jean was the solid base that made his career possible- it would have been wonderful to hear more of her voice and story carry through the narrative. Rather's voice does ring through loud and clear, which is both a strength and the weakness in my opinion as that voice is sometimes strident and veers a bit toward self-congratulatory. Rather is uncompromising in his belief that CBS sold out the Evening News, and he is happy to name names and apportion blame which may be understandable but also reeks a bit of bitterness- a bitterness that rather undermines his legitimate grievances with the organization.

Throughout this book one thing that is always front and center is Rather's deep and abiding passion for journalism and his clear belief that the press has a duty to ask the tough questions and to reveal the hidden truths. His disdain for the corporate conglomerates that control the news today in the U.S. is well-founded as are his fears that we are in danger of losing the free press that our Founding Fathers viewed as so essential to safeguard our democracy. After his many decades reporting the news, and his brief stint as the story itself, Rather is perfectly placed to assess the state of modern journalism; it is to his credit that he faces so unflinchingly the shortcomings of his own profession.

All in all, an engaging read by one of the most recognizable faces (and voices) of the era. ( )

Dan Rather has been a news reporter for over 50 years and in all those years he has made a few enemies, from the KKK during the civil rights movement to President Nixon to members of George W. Bush's administration. He covers the reasons why in Rather Outspoken- My Life in the News, co-written with Digby Diehl.

There are several events in Rather's life that had a lasting impact on him, beginning with a bad case of rheumatic fever when he was a child that left him trapped in his home, unable to play with his friends or even attend school. The radio became his best friend and he grew up listening to reporters like Edward R. Murrow, Eric Sevareid and Charles Collingwood in the run-up to WWII.

When he was a child, a few teachers took an interest in Rather, encouraging him in his love of writing. Although Rather acknowledges that he is not the best writer (and in fact a bad speller), or the smartest man in the room, he credits his dogged determination for much of his success.

One of his biggest strengths is his ability to ad-lib, which he learned working at a Houston radio station. He had a lot of air-time to fill, and he also covered play-by-play in high school sports, which gave him a leg up when it came time to move into television.

He got his dream job of working for CBS News, one of the most prestigious news organizations in the world. On his first day, one of his idols, Charles Collingwood offered to show him around and invited him for a drink.

The book gives a terrific overview of Rather's career, and he covered many of the most important stories of the last fifty years. He spent a lot of time covering the civil right movement, and that section of the book is fascinating, especially for those who were too young to remember that period.

He covered Vietnam, and I liked his analysis of the difference between reporters working in Vietnam, where they could just tag along and grab a ride with a helicopter pilot to cover whatever story they wanted, to today's embedded reporters, who can only go where the US military allows them.

His chapter on Afghanistan, which Rather covered back in the 1980s by sneaking into the country then at war with Russia, is very interesting. I can remember watching Rather on CBS at this time, never imagining how important that country would become to our nation twenty years later.

The best chapters in the book cover the end of Rather's career with CBS News. He and his news team did a story on President George W. Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam War. They found evidence that Bush went AWOL from his unit for more than a year, and when they tried to run the story, they were stymied at every point by corporate executives at CBS.

Rather's most important point in the book, and one that I think he makes very well, is how the corporatization of the news has changed what news the American people get. The big three networks are now owned by huge corporations- ABC by Disney, NBC by Comcast/Universal and General Electric and CBS by Viacom.

All of these corporations have vast holdings, and as such, they are constantly lobbying government for legislation favorable to their companies. Because of that, the news divisions are pressured to not report on anything that may hurt their lobbying efforts. The days of the news divisions having the freedom to cover the stories they think are important to the American people sadly seem to be over.

Rather ends the book describing his new job at HDNet, owned by billionaire Mark Cuban. Rather and his news team create 42 hours of investigative reports per year (unheard of!), and he lists some of their most honored reports, including a story on a British bank that launders money for Iran, the horror of underage sex trafficking in Portland, Oregon, and a problem with Boeing's new Dreamliner plane that endangered lives. I definitely will be checking out HDNet and Rather Reports, they are doing the reporting I want to watch.

Rather Outspoken is a fascinating look not only at an interesting man, but also at the most important news stories of the last fifty years. The book is really written in Rather's distinctive voice, with many of his Texas-isms, like his description of the very small office for Dan Rather Reports, running it as a "Hong King hot-pillow joint."

He is a somewhat polarizing person with a big ego, and those who do not like Rather will probably not have their minds changed by this book, but for those looking for one man's story of his place covering the history of the past fifty years, this is an enlightening book. ( )

Dan Rather was always my favorite anchor, although Walter Cronkite was a tough act for him to follow. In this latest book, Rather gives his side of the reasons he is no longer at CBS. I always felt he was treated as a scapegoat and got a really raw deal. I no longer watch CBS news.

Rather recalls his desire to be a news reporter which harkens back to elementary school where he was allowed to begin a school newspaper. He fondly remembers his excellent teachers. He also shares his memories of reporting in Vietnam and Afghanistan and the reporting of the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

The corporate run news desks at the major networks aren't giving us the news we always got from newspapers, which didn't bend to the wishes of corporate sponsors. The demise of the printed news is scary for all of us, and doesn't bode well for democracy. Just take a look at Fox News (loosely using the term) to see what biased news looks like. Our current reporters and those coming into the business are being conditioned to get permission from corporate before they report their findings. Newspapers used to be the way everyone got the news. When I was a child, we had 2 daily local papers and on Sundays my father bought the NY Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Washington Post and read them all.

This is a great read, even if just to remember what you were doing when the important things happened, like Kennedy's assassination, Watergate, and 9/11. Dan Rather is still the best. ( )