When I saw the headline during a surf of the Internet Sunday night, I quickly learned I knew so little of how much Peter Jennings had accomplished in his career -- the Canadian-born journalist had debuted as ABC's network news anchor in 1965. He then thrived as a foreign correspondent and, as this story puts its, dominated the ratings througout the '80s and early '90s.
Reading all this now, I'm sorry I didn't pay more attention to him, having been largely raised on Dan Rather and CBS. (Rather's subsequent fall and that network's handling of the now infamous Bush-National Guard story has me watching more of Brian Williams and NBC, however.)
Yet, what might be one of my most vivid memories of network news, among perhaps one of the most vivid days of this generation, was the Saturday morning -- it must've been Saturday, Sept. 15, 2001, as I think about it now -- that I walked into my college's newspaper office. All alone, I picked up the remote and turned on the TV. There was Peter Jennings, in one of his now infmaous broadcasts, talking to children about the events of those last few days. I'm sure it probably took me awhile to get any work done as I remember marveling at how easily he met the children at their levels and made them feel comfortable with their fears and feelings, as all of us were experiencing the same confusion and fears.
My lasting memory of Peter Jennings ...
No comments:
Post a Comment