The idea was to spur ratings and give Rather time to do big stories in the field. Chung had long scored high in popularity tests among viewers. But almost from the start this was no Huntley-Brinkley. Newscast ratings have fallen from second to last. While many things contributed to that, “there was just no chemistry between them,” said one CBS executive.
As always, the divorce was anything but sweet. With New York’s tabloids in a frenzy, it turned into a bitter series of charges and countercharges. Chung says that two weeks ago CBS management told her agent that they wanted to make her the weekend anchor, have her fill in for Rather when he was away and do special projects. They were also likely to cancel her news-magazine show, “Eye to Eye With Connie Chung.” Forget it, she told CBS, and she began negotiations to leave the network–and reportedly get the balance of her $2 million-a-year contract. News of her ouster was leaked, apparently by Chung’s camp. (Shedenies it.) She issued a statement playing the sexism card, saying that it’s “inappropriate for the only woman on the three major network programs to have anything less than full and equal status.”
Any semblance of civility was gone. Rather, usually gentlemanly, held a breakfast with TV reporters and seemed to bash his colleague’s skills. “Two trips to the Mid-east do not make you a foreign correspondent,” he told them. He also recalled that he had, “not in any patronizing way,” encouraged Chung to read more in order to stay “connected with the news.” Rather later told NEWSWEEK that everything he’d said at the breakfast was “intended to be supportive” to Chung. “I respect her work. She’s an exceptionally hardworking and talented professional,” he said.
But Chung was having none of it. A source close to her said she thought Rather had “belittled her journalistic background. It was a public trashing of her, and coming just after she’d been demoted, it just lacks common decency.” Chung starting dumping on Rather. She said that at a coffee-shop meeting around March 1, Rather gave her a know-your-place lecture: just read the news on the evening show and, in effect, forget about the big stories. “I was shocked,” Chung told NEWSWEEK. “I said there are lots of stories to cover.”
Maybe so, but the two anchors had jockeyed constantly for the big assignments. Chung claimed that Rather had complained when she did stories in China, at Richard Nixon’s funeral and interviews with Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole. “We always walked on eggshells when we wanted to cover something,” she said.
Rather’s camp suggested that Chung, lacking the necessary gravitas and experience, was overreaching. Rather himself claims that her agent even pressed CBS in March to assign more important stories to Chung, at Rather’s expense. The idea was to rebuild her image – battered after a series of tabloidy interviews and the “bitch” fiasco with Gingrich’s mother. One result of that pressure may have been CBS’s decision to send Chung and not Rather (who was on vacation) to anchor the Oklahoma City blast coverage. As Rather’s allies like to mention, Chung took a severe drubbing from some TV critics and local residents, who complained of condescending questioning.
Rather says he never sought–nor was involved in – Chung’s removal. But the battle over Oklahoma City coverage finally forced CBS managers to take action. They were feeling pressure to do something to please affiliated TV stations that were disgruntled over CBS’s last-place news and entertainment ratings. In this atmosphere, Rather was going to win. He was considered the stronger journalist, and most news staffers and executives backed him. And while Chung hadn’t specifically hurt ratings, she hadn’t boosted them, either.
Chung says she doesn’t know her next move, though the speculation had her heading to Fox Broadcasting or even hooking up with her husband, talk-show host Maury Povich. And Rather, who was the critics’ favorite whipping boy when he was solo, had ironically gained in stature. Funny what losing a plum assignment can do for you.
When the pairing was announced in May ‘93, Bather said it “lets me free to be me.” Chung said, “This is my dream job.” But then . . .
February 1994: Chung pursues Tonya Harding to Lillehammer. The T word (tabloid) is heard.
September 1994: Rather gets exclusive interview with Cedras in Haiti; Chung is assigned to O.J.
October 1994: Despite Judge Ito’s plea, Chung interviews Nicole’s friend Faye Resnick.
January 1995: Kathleen Gingrich tells Chung that Newt called the First Lady “a bitch.” Critics say Chung tricked her into it.
April 1995: Rather is reportedly furious when Chung covers Oklahoma bombing. Some locals are angered by her remarks; she apologizes on air.
