Now 75, Rather was greeted with a standing ovation before beginning a folksy, often humorous lecture that wove homespun tales of his Texas youth with serious warnings about the direction in which the country and the world are headed.
Rather said his lifelong passion for journalism began as a boy, when he frequently watched his father devouring newspapers and reacting angrily or excitedly to stories he was reading.
"For my father, reading a newspaper was as much a physical exercise as a mental one," he said.
When he turned 10, Rather came down with a serious case of rheumatic fever that confined him to his bed. His favorite way to divert himself at the time, he said, was to listen to Edward R. Murrow's famously harrowing radio accounts of the Nazi blitz bombings on London.
By the time he got to CBS, Rather said, he came to see how important it was for news organizations to be fearless and independent. During his coverage of the Watergate scandal, for example, Rather said President Nixon repeatedly tried to pressure CBS owner William Paley into stifling his organization's reporting, but Paley stood firm.
Rather said, though, that the climate in news organizations has changed since the 1970s. He said most news organizations are now owned by large corporations who see the role of the press as less of a public service and more of a source of entertainment.
The trend toward coverage of celebrity scandals and other "frivolous" topics poses a dangerous threat to the country's democratic form of government, Rather said.
"If people aren't demanding to know what's going on with their government and their leaders and institutions, it makes it harder for democracy to thrive," he said.
Rather urged the public to support journalists who aren't afraid to ask tough questions of the country's leaders or push for greater access to government records.
"I do have a sense that things are getting more restrictive, no doubt about it," he said.
After the talk, security officials at CCSU refused to allow reporters access to question Rather backstage.
Contact Matt Burgard at mburgard@courant.com.
Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant
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