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Authoritative, unflappable Jennings

From the moment news of his lung cancer surfaced, those familiar with the disease's high mortality rate feared the worst for veteran ABC News anchor Peter Jennings. The 67-year-old broadcaster's death Sunday after four months of medical treatment marks the end of an era in network TV news for reasons beyond the obvious.

Jennings was the last of the Big Three network news anchors, celebrity journalists who spoke with authority on the day's events. With NBC's Tom Brokaw retired and CBS's Dan Rather pushed out, viewers are left with newsreaders who seem less authoritative as the Internet age creates an audience that knows their offerings are just one view among many.

Jennings was the last internationalist anchor in network TV - a Canadian with dual citizenship whose years heading ABC News' Middle East coverage led him to shape incisive and unorthodox coverage of both the 9/11 attacks and the runup to the Iraq war. His news program was called ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings for a reason. Jennings got the big job because of his achievements as a television correspondent after his first stab at anchoring for ABC failed when he was age 26.

Think of Jennings and you remember his sterling Middle East reportage; Rather evokes memories of Watergate or Vietnam. Think of Brokaw heir Brian Williams, and you recall his slick, charismatic talk show banter or his brief stint as a New Jersey firefighter. Journalism, it seems, is now the last thing that distinguishes today's news anchors.

A high school dropout who never learned to type with all his fingers, Jennings may have been one of the last high-profile TV journalists to ascend on the strength of his talent and a focus on improvement.

So unflappable and urbane, he was nicknamed the "James Bond of TV news." Jennings stood out as a driven, professional blend of traditional news substance and detached TV cool. At a time when television news is losing credibility and audience appeal, his brand of suave excellence will be missed.

[Last modified August 10, 2005, 00:37:16]