Van Gordon Sauter on CBS

The former top news executive at CBS (1982-1986), Fox and Channel 2 here has been on something of a kick about liberal media bias lately (he is more conservative). On today's LAT op-ed page, he lists what he thinks is wrong at Rather's network:

Well, for one thing, it has no credibility. And no audience, no morale, no long-term emblematic anchorperson and no cohesive management structure. Outside of those annoyances, it shouldn't be that hard to fix.

Personally, I have a great affection for CBS News, even though I was unceremoniously shown to the door there nearly 20 years ago in a tumultuous change of corporate management.

But I stopped watching it some time ago. The unremitting liberal orientation finally became too much for me. I still check in, but less and less frequently. I increasingly drift to NBC News and Fox and MSNBC.

He praises CBS boss Les Moonves as the most effective executive in TV today and predicts he will reshape what the network does: "For CBS News, the only path back to anything near first place will require a compass setting based in objectivity and quality."