My Week In Tweets

March 19 - 25

The start of spring. A new season begins. As we head into a period of longer days and blooming flowers, I look forward to a sense of renewal. But here, I’ll look back at the events of the past week. Come tiptoe through the tweets with me.

Editors note: most weeks “My Week In Tweets” is available to paying subscribers only. In light of the newsworthy content this week, we have decided to make this feature open to all. Thank you for your support.

March 19 - March 25

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- Friday -

So Fossil Friday is apparently a thing at the wonderful American Museum of Natural History in New York. I always have been fascinated by these links to a far different era of life on Earth. There’s something about looking at old bones that not only summons forth these awe-inspiring creatures, but also is a dose of humility on our own longevity. But a blip, even for us living fossils.

Dan Rather @DanRather

Tripping while running up the stairs to Air Force One is embarrassing. Tripping while running the response to COVID is deadly. I would argue the latter story should be a bigger headline.

A president is always on display, and one would expect that Fox News and other such outlets would lead for several news cycles with the crisis of a man slipping while running up stairs (been there, done that, as I suspect many of you have as well). Of course, this was a faux outrage for faux news among people who want to desperately claim President Biden has lost his mental acuity while gaslighting what all of us saw over the previous four years.

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- Saturday -

One of the great things about Twitter is when you stumble across a person, event, book, whatever, that hadn’t really been on your radar and then you start digging. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was just such an inspiration. What a talent, and a reminder that women and people of color have not gotten enough of their due as pioneers of the arts. Listen to the clip I shared. Dig into her repertoire. Read about her life. I suspect you won’t be disappointed.

Dan Rather @DanRather

What is the biggest fraud in voting? This lie that there is widespread fraud in voting. There isn’t. Not even close.

This notion of widespread “voting fraud” is bunk. It’s also just an excuse for voter suppression. There are many who sadly believe that when people who don’t see the world like they do express those opinions with their votes, well that is somehow “fraudulent”? It’s actually American.

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- Sunday -

Dan Rather @DanRather

Tweeting without spell check can be devestating.

So the GOP official Twitter account, in an attempt to attack Democrats, tweeted this.

Check out the word in all caps, and consider that one of the subjects they teach in school is spelling. After they got a tsunami of derision, they deleted the tweet. I hope my attempt at shade speaks for itself…

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- Monday -

Dan Rather @DanRather

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” If only we were so protected from poor management...

The New York Times @nytimes

Months after the presidential election highlighted problems in the Postal Service, the agency has failed to restore its target delivery times. In mid-December, as little as 62% of first-class mail was delivered on time, according to Postal Service data. https://t.co/7nV2E4P5IT

What has happened to the U.S. Postal Service is outrageous. I have seen some suggestions that it may be criminal. I hope the appropriate justice, in whatever form, gets delivered.

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- Tuesday -

Dan Rather @DanRather

Will you join me in an experiment that could save quality journalism around the world? It’s a big statement, I grant you, but it’s an urgent one. Without a vibrant, free, and independent press, democracy is in serious trouble. There is no... 280/3,722

paygo.mediaAn Experiment to Save JournalismPublished via Paygo

First Substack, and now this new venture? Is this all about me hitting you up for payment? Well, no, and sort of yes. The reality is that the business model that supports journalism generally (including the business model that supports what my team and I have been doing specifically) is broken. Social media doesn’t lead to sustainable revenue. Neither does ad revenue. Journalism needs new models. Subscriptions —like Substack— are one. But how many subscriptions can any one person have? We need another option. And I hope Paygo, described here, can be a game changer.

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- Wednesday -

I mean, who doesn’t love the Muppets? And there is a little-known Twitter decree: any chance to use the word “chutzpah” shall not be passed over. Plus, the sheer joy of that write up to the Muppet Movie - setting up a an alternate universe of idiosyncratic wonder? It felt like an opportunity to have a very different kind of content flash across our screens.

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- Thursday -

I end this week with a personal note. Last year, the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas created the “Dan Rather Medals for News and Guts” to recognize collegiate and professional journalists. This year was the first class of winners — Tony Plohetski of the Austin American-Statesman/KVUE and Madeleine Davison, a recent graduate of Syracuse University. When people ask me about my “legacy,” I don’t know quite what to say. I see journalism as a largely ephemeral enterprise, meant more for the moment than some lasting imprint. But the ideals of journalism, of holding the powerful accountable, of getting as close to the truth as is humanly possible, that must endure if we want democracy to endure. And so to play some very small part in encouraging and rewarding new generations of journalists, well that is about as close to the kind of legacy as I could hope for.

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Well, that’s a walk through my Twitter week. I hope you enjoyed it. Remember to leave a comment if you’re so inclined. And if you haven’t subscribed, please consider doing so. Or share with family and friends. Thanks for your support.

— Dan