Dan Rather warns news media needs to find a new business model or risk losing objectivity

Rather at SXSW

Legendary US news anchor Dan Rather has said “there is a tsunami of BD” being put out by authorities today, and warned society is risking losing journalists to really question that authority.

Rather, who was anchor of CBS’s evening news for 25 years, also accused traditional broadcasters of not having a model to support news, saying they were “throwing jello up against the bark and hoping to see what sticks, and not much has stuck”.

Speaking on the same panel examining news in the age of Snapchat Dan Pfeiffer, senior advisor at the White House, said the erosion of traditional news audiences meant President Barack Obama has to “work harder than any previous president to communicate with the American people” adding: “The next president will have to work harder still”. He said that was the reason the president had done a series of interviews with n0n-hard news digital outlets and appeared on chat shows like Jimmy Fallon, in a bid to hit more of the voters.