I have to admit that I really wasn't that big of a fan of Peter Jennings, though I recognized that he was very accomplished in the news business, having reported from all over the world. I liked some of "The Century," and I also thought he did a good job on the year-2000 celebrations (Anal Retentive Nit-Picking Dept: I purposely don't call them "The Millennium" celebrations because they took place from 1999 to 2000, instead of 2000 to 2001 which was the real beginning).
More often than not, I felt like he was talking down to me when I had the time (and the desire, actually) to watch the network evening news. I thought Tom Brokaw was more of a regular guy, partly because he had problems with pronouncing his "r's" and "l's", and Gunga Dan was always uncomfortable behind the desk and you could always tell that he really wanted to get out in the field and do his reporting (both of those guys have the chance to do that now if they want).
Peter Jennings, though, made it look too easy actually. I guess that should be taken as a compliment. However, I thought he found a way to remind people how good he was at it as it was doing it, and it put me off a bit.
Still, though, I'm sorry for the loss his family and friends are feeling now. It seems like he just announced he had lung cancer a short time ago, and now he's gone. Also, his is a loss which I'm sure is being felt throughout the news business, since it needs all of the credible people it can get now.
Finally, this should be the lesson we should ALL take from his passing:
Throw those damn cigarettes away, people. I know it's easy for me to say that, but I have to. How many more examples do we need?
(P.S. - I thought this was a nice tribute.)
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