Jennings an anchor in many respects

  • By Victor Balta / Herald Columnist
  • Monday, August 8, 2005 9:00pm
  • Life

It’s entirely appropriate that ABC News anchor Peter Jennings took all that is television news with him when he died Sunday.

NBC’s Tom Brokaw called it quits in December, and CBS’s Dan Rather was shamed into semi-retirement in March after getting swept up in the nation’s deep political war.

But Jennings, the sole anchor of ABC’s “World News Tonight” for the past 22 years, pushed forward as the last keeper of trust in TV news until he announced in April that he had lung cancer, and finally succumbed to it at the age of 67.

It’s particularly jarring and disturbing in the new world of raging cynicism toward journalists and cries of media bias at the drop of a hat, that the three most trustworthy faces and voices of our generation have vanished within nine months of each other.

Add to that Ted Koppel’s impending departure from ABC’s “Nightline” in December and we’ve nowhere to turn.

These men continued the legacy of the great news anchors who laid a foundation of expectations for a relatively new medium over the past half-century. But I never saw their predecessors. Edward R. Murrow, David Brinkley, John Chancellor and Walter Cronkite are just names of people I know everyone trusted.

I’m 28 years old now and everything I’ve ever known and counted on in television news is gone.

I can’t tell you I watched every one of Brokaw, Rather or Jennings’ broadcasts.

But I’ve always known that when news broke and I needed somebody to give it to me straight, I could turn to any one of them.

We don’t have that anymore.

That isn’t a knock on Brian Williams, who is perfectly fine as Brokaw’s replacement at NBC, or on whoever will permanently take the anchor seats at CBS and ABC.

It just can’t be the same again.

Not in the era of cable news, where Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity yell at me every night.

Where Larry King interviews celebrities about their diets.

Where Bob Novak drops expletives and storms off the set.

And where people from “each side” of a news story are planted in little boxes to shout over each other for five minutes in the name of balanced coverage.

Jennings, a Canadian high-school dropout, was ironically the last of a uniquely American ideal that expected and for many years got an objective, tough and fair news anchor.

He asked the tough questions of newsmakers and turned his career into an international game of “Where’s Waldo?”

Whenever news happened, you could bet Jennings was there, from the hostage crisis at the 1972 Olympics in Munich to the recent developments in Iraq, including Saddam Hussein’s first courtroom appearance and the handover of sovereignty in that country.

Jennings wasn’t content to sit in an air-conditioned studio and report the events of the day, and we were the beneficiaries of his passion.

“I’m fascinated by everything,” he said early in his career. “There’s just too much going on in too many places that I just daren’t miss.”

Sadly for us, with Jennings and his TV news brethren now out of the picture, there is far too much that we will miss.

Columnist Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

More in Life

Daniella Beccaria / for The Herald

15-month-old Kantu attempts to climb a pumpkin at Stocker Farms in Snohomish on Sunday, September 20th, 2015. Stocker Farms offers a U-pick patch, farm animals and a corn maze.
Best pumpkin patch in Snohomish County

You voted, we tallied, here are the results.

Everett comedian Taylor Clark performs stand-up in 2023 at The Triple Door in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mike Bryk)
Comedian Taylor Clark to film first special Friday in Everett

The skateboarding funny-man will record an hour of his stand-up at the Historic Everett Theater.

Local musician Alex Johnston, whose newest album "Daylight Fooldream" pairs with short film he made with help from his partner Mikaela Henderson, sits with his morning coffee on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, at Narrative Coffee in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Folktronica musician shoots 37-minute visual album on iPhone in Everett

Alex Johnston, 31, describes his music as ”if Coldplay and Bon Iver had a love child.”

Flowering knotweed Persicaria amplexicaulis firetail in the morning light.
Save for one infamous variety, fleece flowers are easy to fall in love with

This long-blooming, easy-to-grow perennial comes in many desirable varieties. But watch out: One is an invasive knotweed.

A view of King Street Station in Seattle, Washington from an Amtrak Cascades train to Portland, Oregon from Everett, Washington on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Ride the rails on Amtrak Cascades from Everett to Portland

Make new friends and let Amtrak do the driving on this 5-hour trip past sea, city and forest.

From left, Elora Coble, Carol Richmond, David Hayes, Karli Reinbold, Giovanna Cossalter Walters, Landon Whitbread in a scene from Edmonds Driftwood Players' production of "Murder on the Orient Express." (Dale Sutton / Magic Photography)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Edmonds Driftwood Players opens its 65th season with Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Some collectibles are found in nature; some imitate them. If it weren’t for the attached figure, this Royal Dux porcelain vase might pass for a real conch shell.
This shell-shaped vase would make a fine souvenir of summer fun

It may not be a real shell, but this art nouveau piece could still evoke fond memories of days at the beach.

Arlington Garden Club celebrating its 90th anniversary

The club has monthly programs for north Snohomish County gardeners and awards scholarships to area students.

Spouses Franchesca and Don Simpson talk about their baby girl’s “chubby cheeks” and “button nose” as Kelly Fox RDMS RVT performs a live-view 3D ultrasound on the expecting mother Saturday, August 26, 2023, at Wonder Baby Ultrasound Studio in Everett, Washington. The Simpsons are expecting their first child in October. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Glamour shots in utero? Everett studio offers HD ultrasound keepsakes

For curious parents, these glimpses are exciting, but not medically endorsed.

An Oxford White grille with red “BRONCO” lettering signifies the 2023 Ford Bronco Sport Heritage Limited Edition model. (Ford)
2023 Ford Bronco Sport has two new Heritage Edition models

Design and paint treatments pay homage to the original Bronco introduced in 1966.

Photo caption: Back-to-school is an ideal time to pick up new habits that help your family reduce waste and learn about resource conservation.
Go green this back-to-school season

It’s an ideal time for the entire family to learn the three Rs — Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Picturesque Rothenburg, with its pastel buildings, uniform rooflines, and flower boxes, is also famous for its unique people.
Rothenburg is one tourist trap that Rick Steves loves

The medieval town in Germany is a community of real characters and exudes small-town charm.