Mashable man Dan Rather just isn’t the retiring type

NEW YORK – At age 83, Dan Rather is starting over.
The veteran broadcaster has quietly shut down the “Dan Rather Reports” newsmagazine he’d been making since leaving CBS News a decade ago and opened an independent production company, with seed money from AXS-TV founder Mark Cuban in exchange for a series of interviews with entertainers. His “News & Guts” firm is even working on a scripted fiction series.
Rather also has signed on for reporting and analysis at the website Mashable, where his story urging people not to get too wound up about the early stages of the 2016 presidential campaign appeared this week.
Retirement? Not an option.
“I love to work,” Rather said. “I have my flaws, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always loved covering news and I have a passion for covering news. I couldn’t see myself not doing it as long as I have my health.”
Rather moves more slowly and speaks more softly than during his days as chief CBS News anchor. A piece of paper with two of Cuban’s email addresses sits prominently on his desk; the Internet entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner has been Rather’s patron in his post-CBS years.
Although widely unseen, Rather’s newsmagazine took on tough topics like underage prostitution, flaws in electronic voting, floating garbage dumps at sea and temporary housing that made many hurricane victims sick. AXS-TV, formerly HDNet, is available in less than half of the nation’s TV homes.
While far more than when Rather started, the audience is a fraction of CBS’ “60 Minutes,” where Rather once figured to spend his last working years. The switch to the music-focused AXS-TV meant the newsmagazine was out of place.
Rather now hosts “The Big Interview,” a format that placed the hard-bitten former White House correspondent with personalities like Emmylou Harris, Trisha Yearwood, Don Rickles, Dolly Parton, Aaron Sorkin, Josh Groban and Weird Al Yankovic for hour-long programs.
“We discontinued ‘Dan Rather Reports’ because ‘The Big Interview’ was working so well,” Cuban said. “Dan is the best in the business, and the quality of interviews he is doing is incredible. I wanted more of them.”
Watching the courtly Rather interviewing Jack White in Nashville, Tenn., was a culture shock. Rather dressed down – suit jacket and open-necked shirt – while the natty White was in a suit and tie. One can imagine the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” booming from Rather’s office as he prepped for the piece. He described White as “one of the great guitar heroes of our time.”
Rather kept his questions simple and broad to make the interview appealing to those only generally acquainted with White’s work. The musician, who clearly respected Rather and his background, responded with interesting stories.