Peter Jennings 1938-2005

It's a sad day for journalism. One of the last great newsmen of my time lost his battle with lung cancer over the weekend, the nightly news will never be the same.

I've never been a big evening news viewer, usually sticking to CNN and internet reports, but I can remember the days before those options when we had the big three... Jennings, Brokaw, and Rather. I'll regret not paying more attention to the man, assuming that he'd always be around.

In the days after 9/11 Peter Jennings demonstrated more courage and stamina than any other journalist on the air. I don't know if it was his 60 hour marathon of broadcasting or his calm, cool demeanor that seemed to steel the audience. He brought calm to chaos, hope to misery and above all a sincere approach to journalism.

I don't want to use this to rant and rave about other networks, I don't think that would be particularly appropriate. However, I do think that it's worth pointing out that as the news broke of Jennings' passing, Fox News ran constant coverage of the still missing (and still white/attractive) Natalee Halloway. As the other networks were knee deep in Jennings tributes or in some cases winding them down, Fox finally switched to another story... that of an unsolved double homicide from 1978.

I guess I'll just bite my lip on this one, but I doubt anyone is still curious as to how I feel about that.