Dan Rather’s “Rather” Goes Free on YouTube With a CBS Warning

By Marcus Bennett

The 93-minute documentary “Rather” is now free on YouTube, Variety reports. Dan Rather turns 95 on Saturday, in the days before the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. Wavelength, Fremantle’s Original Productions and Anchor Entertainment began distributing the film on YouTube on the day of Variety’s report, timed to Free Speech Week.

The 2023 Frank Marshall-directed film connects Rather’s life with the condition of American journalism. He told Variety:

“I hope it will give it a much wider audience. I’m also hoping that this documentary may, in some pretty small way, help underscore the importance of defending the First Amendment and freedom of the press — especially at this moment in our country’s history.”

Variety reports that Rather continues to write the Substack newsletter “Steady.” The documentary uses never-before-seen footage to revisit his controversial exit from CBS News in 2006 and major episodes of his 44-year career.

The documentary also gives Rather a platform to assess CBS News under new owner Skydance. He said what had happened at the network was in many ways a disaster, while acknowledging that many good people still worked there. He blamed a coalition of billionaire corporate power, influential political actors and the presidency.

Rather said Donald Trump’s hostility toward “60 Minutes” had delivered his wishes and cleared the way for a consolidation of corporate power. He said the wreckage at CBS News continued at that moment and that he did not see how to stop it.

Before taking over “CBS Evening News” in 1981, Rather was a “60 Minutes” correspondent. He later returned for the short-lived companion series “60 Minutes II.”

He described “60 Minutes” as television’s strongest investigative journalism operation and said it had been the country’s most profitable television program. Rather said the new CBS regime was trying to turn CBS News into a more sophisticated version of Fox News, a change he called almost unbelievable under other circumstances.

Rather said he had not known Bari Weiss before she became CBS News editor-in-chief and did not know her afterward. He said she had quickly turned CBS News toward a version of Fox News that might be more palatable.

He also said Weiss had been rewarded with many millions of dollars for her company, “The Free Press,” before being paid to join CBS News and begin its destruction. Rather praised former “60 Minutes” correspondents Scott Pelley and Sharyn Alfonsi for speaking up about the changes, which he linked to their exits.

He said the new ownership removed both, called them two of the country’s best television correspondents and said their challenge to power came at a tremendous personal cost. He singled out Pelley’s courage after a long career. He described the cost to both men as a documentary theme: there is a price for trying to find the truth and tell it.

Rather’s critique extends beyond one network. He said politics had combined with immense corporate power to produce news shaped by billionaires rather than the public. Rather and the producers frame political attacks on the First Amendment, including those by Donald Trump, as part of the current crisis for journalism.

According to the producers, the film tells three stories at once:

• the evolution of broadcast journalism;
• the troubles now facing a free press;
• the slide of American society from hard-fought advances in social justice and democratic freedoms.

All three unfold through Rather’s career, which includes Emmy, Peabody and Edward R. Murrow honors. Rather summarized his warning this way:

“If freedom of the press dies, democracy dies. A truly independent press is the red beating heart of freedom and democracy. I don’t think we teach it quite enough that real news is something someone in power usually doesn’t want you to know.”

What does the free release change?

For viewers, the immediate change is access: the full 93-minute film can now be watched on YouTube without payment. The film’s producers said the release aims to spark conversation about free speech, journalistic integrity and the importance of a free press.

They also said they are using Free Speech Week to draw attention to organizations Rather supports in protecting the First Amendment, including the ACLU. For Rather, broader distribution gives his warning a public platform during an election year. He said the film may help, even in a small way, in making the case for an independent press.

Frank Marshall, Jenifer Westphal, Joe Plummer, Jeff Hasler, Ethan Goldman and Aly Parker produced “Rather.”

Rather is now focused on the 2026 midterms, especially the Senate race in Texas, his native state. He said he had always loved covering politics and called the Texas contest a race for the ages. He said people would write about the race for years and that he could not wait to see how it turned out.

Rather said better heads than his might have to figure out how to stop the concentration of media power. With the 2026 midterms days away and the film free on YouTube, he remains focused on the Texas Senate race and the defense of an independent press.