Anyone who works in media these days — especially online — knows that it can be an all-consuming lifestyle, caught up in the immediacy of the 24-7 news cycle and very much given to being swept up by the wildly fluctuating highs and lows of the moment. That’s why it’s so nice to step back [...]

Don Imus kicks off his Fox Business Network morning show on Monday (we’ll have more on that coming soon), but today he’s interviewed by FNC/FBN anchor Neil Cavuto. The interview airs at 4pmET on Fox News and 6pmET on FBN – and there are quite a few soundbites sure to garner some attention.

We got a look at some excerpts – including shots at Dan Rather, David Letterman and even his new colleague Glenn Beck.

The New York Supreme Court appellate division dismissed Dan Rather‘s $70 million lawsuit against his former employer CBS yesterday, and both sides have weighed in. But one person who hasn’t talked yet is Rather himself.

He’ll make his first comments since the dismissal tomorrow – on Fox News.

The New York Supreme Court appellate division has dismissed in full the $70 million lawsuit filed by Dan Rather against his former employer, CBS News, today.

Rather’s team called the decision “incorrect on a number of grounds,” while a CBS News statement says “this lawsuit is now effectively over.” Here’s some of the lengthy ruling, and some background:

In yet another Future of the News discussion, it would be far too easy to retread the same tired information. But with leaders in three separate media branches — including Dan Rather and the New Yorker‘s Jane Mayer — at his disposal, moderator Victor Navasky didn’t limit the agenda for the evening. Instead, he kept it open-ended and tried to address the question of the evening: What’s in store for the future of media?

Remember when an anchor stepping down was a huge deal? Tom Brokaw. Dan Rather. Peter Jennings. These names were huge pillars of the news ecosystem, and their departures were big stories — as well as the fraught issue of who had the gravitas to step into their anchorly shoes.

Oh, how things have changed. Today, the news that Charlie Gibson is leaving ABC’s World News after only a few years in the top spot is definitely news, but is shaking no foundations. It’s also not at all surprising who is replacing him: Diane Sawyer. Well, except that she’s a woman.

A column in the Washington Post this Sunday is the latest in Dan Rather‘s campaign to get President Obama to convene “White House commission on public media” — an important step towards legitimizing the debate about the future of the news. But do we really need more government in our news?

In a recent interview with Mediaite’s Rachel Sklar, Dan Rather was critical of all forms of media. Rather scolded print organizations for not having enough “boots on the ground” to cover breaking stories, cable television for airing shows where “three people get into a room and shout at one another,” and online news aggregators for being “processing plants” for “other people’s news.”

Now, the formidable 77-year-old anchor has a solution to the media’s woes: Government intervention.

Just a few days ago CBS welcomed Dan Rather back to participate in Sunday night’s Walter Cronkite special. But it looks to be a short-lived detente. Yesterday Rather’s drawn-out $70 million court case against his former employer won what the New York Times is calling “significant victories”:

The passing of Walter Cronkite brings back memories of a time when the CBS Evening News not only dominated the ratings, but the news conversation as a whole. And it turns a light on the current situation at the network, where the newscast sits in a clear third. There are many reasons for this: here’s why the CBS Evening News is struggling in the ratings, how it can turn things around…and why none of it is Katie Couric’s fault.

It didn’t take long to see the significance of the CBS special about Walter Cronkite tonight. After a silent screen announced that 60 Minutes would not be airing, and why, a voice began to speak: “There are thousands of voices delivering the news today, but there once was a time, not long ago, when one voice mattered most.”

It was an opening segment that set the tone for a powerful tribute, from fellow journalists and more, to a man who meant so much to the fourth estate.

For anyone whose political identity was formed during the poison years bracketed by Walter Cronkite‘s tenure as CBS evening anchor, the avuncular newsman was like the kindly, reassuring narrator of a political horror story.

If, as CBS News president Sean McManus mourns, that Cronkite’s status “will never be duplicated again,” it’s not only due to the modern fragmentation of the news audience — it’s also because, ideally, the country will never again go through such an extended trainwreck.

Do you love topical panels, lectures, and seminars, but can’t seem to find the time to attend them? Do you want to know what your favorite columnist had to say about her newest project, even if you don’t live in New York City? Would you be interested in reading about the five most captivating moments [...]