Dan Rather Needs Quotations

What I hope will not change is the understanding that news needs to serve the public interest as its primary goal. That is its greatest calling, to keep freedom and independence alive, and keep it honest.

Comedians, such as yourself, Jon Stewart and others, are a valuable supplement, and here's why: Good journalism at its best frequently speaks truth to power. What's happened with journalists - again, I don't except myself from this criticism - in some ways we've lost our guts. We need a spine transplant. What's happened is comedians, in their own way, speak truth to power and fill that vacuum that we in journalism have too often left, particularly post 9/11.