DAN Rather will continue to write his weekly newspaper column after he steps down as CBS News achor in March.

“He wants to continue the column,” a official of King Features Syndicate, which distrubutes Rather’s column to about 50 papers nationally, told the trade publication Editor & Publisher.

That number of subscribing newspapers has held steady since Rather announced he was ending his run as anchor after 24 years, the magazine reported.

Rather was a newspaperman briefly at the beginning of his career, working for The Houston Chronicle and the AP. He began the column in 1997.

Rather also has a daily radio feature on the CBS-owned Westwood One network that has been on the air since 1981.