Epitaph for the ABC Man
Peter Jennings has died at the age of 67 from lung cancer.I've never been much for network news, but you can't live in this country and not get some information on who's anchoring; they're media stars like the American Idol winners, and for the last few decades there's been a similar level of interest in who's going to "win" every week.
There was always something about Peter Jennings that rubbed me the wrong way. I had heard he was a womanizer and a rageoholic with his colleagues and staff, yet he had probably the smoothest, most hypnotic voice of the three network anchors. None of which would necessarily reflect badly on his abilities as a journalist or a television personality, of course.
But then I watched an ABC report on the crisis in the Middle East. It was called "Jerusalem Stories." They should have called it "Those Nasty Jews," for reasons you can see by clicking on the link above.
Then I found out that, at the time, Jennings was married to a Palestinian, and things got a little clearer.
For my further edification regarding what it was about Jennings' that grated on me, here is one of many obituaries on the man, this one by a Newsweek writer who praises Jennings' continuing insistance upon reporting foreign news in this age when news programs seem designed to sell soap rather than information. Reporting foreign news, especially now, is a very salutary thing, of course, but in Jennings' case it seems to have surgically removed his ability to take proper notice of what's going on domestically.
But I shouldn't pick on him too much - the other two networks got equally bamboozled during the last election.
Well, I'm sorry he died at such a comparatively young age, and I'm sorry for whatever pain he experienced. But mostly I'm sorry that he, or anyone else, is about to undergo the usual public hagiography reserved for deceased public personages, whatever the reality of their lives might have been. Peter Jennings was, I guess, a decent, hardworking, intelligent and deeply flawed man. Let's leave it at that.
Benshlomo says, Here lies Peter Jennings - he done his damnedest.
posted by benshlomo at 3:00 PM
1 Comments:
Interesting comments... While the late Mr Jennings will be lionized by many and vilified by some, I find him to be terribly irrelevent, as I have all network news anchors for 15 years or so. Cable marginalized the networks. The internet left them totally without purpose other than passing along their own biases and gripes. Access to foreign press provided all the information anyone willing to look and listen for themselves could want before making up their own minds.
I regret his passing as I would anyone's. The local barber, grocer, teacher and policeman all serve as great a purpose and deserve the same recognition when they pass. He was a good reporter and learned his lesson well when told at an early age to go back out and get some scars before taking the anchor desk. Too bad he brought all of his own prejudices and weaknesses back with them.
I haven't watched a network newscast in.... I don't remember when. And yet, I consider myself in much better command of current events than most. Mr Jennings was just another talking head on TV. My condolences to his family and friends. Beyond their loss, I see very little impact on the USA or world at large.
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