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Changing face of national news
As the world changes rapidly, so does the image and perception of those who bring global happenings into America’s living rooms. News personalities and reporters’ actions are increasingly becoming part of the fabric of the news instead of the trusted voices who chronicle it.
From Jayson Blair to Dan Rather, scandals have brought an end to distinguished journalistic careers, and recent headlines have told the story of reporter Judy Miller, who chose jail time when asked to reveal a confidential source.
Reports of Peter Jennings’ death impact us in another way and bring home just how fast things are changing. Network news anchors for years were like part of the family – trustworthy elders who could be relied on through good times and bad.
Some of us grew up with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, while others swore by Walter Cronkite. That generation was replaced by a younger group of television journalists – Rather, Cronkite’s heir, who was well-respected until a year ago; Jennings, the unflappably cultured Canadian; and Tom Brokaw, long a fixture on NBC news shows before he settled in at the anchor desk.
That trio reigned supreme for some two decades, bringing stability and order in the face of an ever-evolving world. Now, within a singe year, all three trusted voices have vanished from a television landscape that no longer places the nightly news on a pedestal.
We’ll miss all of them – especially Jennings, who lost his battle with lung cancer four days ago. Both Brokaw and Cronkite spoke eloquently of their fallen colleague.
“He seemed so timeless. He had such elegance and style,” Brokaw said.
“His death is a terrible loss to broadcast journalism,” said Cronkite.
Jennings’ death is emblematic of the dawning of a new television era. With news available 24/7 via cable news networks and the Internet, we’re not likely to ever see the same reliance and trust placed in the individuals who bring us the news.
As we thought of Jennings and his importance, we couldn’t help feeling stirrings of Tar Heel pride at the state’s contributions to broadcast journalism. After all, Cronkite’s CBS predecessor Edward R. Murrow and Brinkley are both sons of the Old North State (Murrow from Greensboro and Brinkley from Wilmington), and we can also claim Charles Kuralt, another Wilmington native.
Closer to home, we can boast of two former Sylva Herald writers who went on to reach a wider audience – Sylva’s own John Parris, who rose to national prominence as a wartime reporter before coming home to write about the mountains, and Addie native Bob Terrell, who still cranks out a weekly column for the Asheville Citizen-Times.
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