In these perilous times for American journalism comes a story of truth telling in service to democracy. Tiananmen Tonight reveals the powerful human drama of Dan Rather and the CBS Evening News team battling for life and reputation while courageously reporting the extraordinary student uprising in 1989 that brought China to the brink of democratic reform.

 

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As student unrest brews in Beijing in the late 1980s, Dan Rather’s CBS Evening News and the entire news division face declining ratings and deep budget cuts.

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But like defiant outlaws, Rather and his team race to China ahead of the media crush where they bravely inform an anxious American public about China’s unfolding demonstrations, emerging student leadership, and bloody confrontations while fending off government censors and coping with the brutal arrest of a star reporter.  In a fit of daring, the team also shelters the most-wanted dissidents in China.

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Ironically, from the embers of the failed democracy movement, CBS News re-claims the number one spot in the evening news race after a long absence.  Although CBS would, in time, cede ratings and international coverage to cable TV, Rather and company’s China gambit cannot be erased. They modeled deep and far-reaching reporting, a fading value in 2025.

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As China looms today and mainstream news media founders in America, our film examines the Tiananmen Square reporting as a pinnacle of broadcast journalism,  a story of journalistic commitment and guts that helped keep America informed in the spirit of democracy. It’s a necessary example in today’s uncertain information environment.