Sad, sad indeed -- The End of 'Network News'

In the 9-12-04 Washington Post is a column entitled "The End of 'Network News.'"

If you don't have a hint what the article is about, you are a member of an earlier generation, and I would not even bother reading the column.

If you suspect you know, you of course will appreciate being reminded as the column does that "[b]y the late 1960s, an anchorman, Walter Cronkite, was the most trusted man in America."

You will recall the days when Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Howard K. Smith, and the greatest of them all Edward R. Murrow, didn't just bring us the news, including the conventions, they were an integral part of them.

Go read the column. You will be glad you did. And it will remind you of what we now miss (especially note the percentages discussed).

I am a fan of Tim Russett, but even this was not enough to make me watch my regular network and favorite anchorman Tom Brokhaw for the 2004 conventions. I went with PBS and Jim Lehrer. Hopefully the "old-school" type coverage will be around for another couple of decades or so.