posted on August 7, 2005 09:06:01 PM new
yes, nts and out of three over the years, our family most always watched him. Maybe it was ABC - my father liked CBS, but my mother just loved peter jennings.
posted on August 7, 2005 09:09:07 PM new
It seems like only a couple of months ago when he announced he had cancer..like NTS said these people are in our homes every night, they feel like friends..
posted on August 7, 2005 09:40:10 PM new
ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings Dies at 67
Updated 11:58 PM ET August 7, 2005
By DAVID BAUDER
NEW YORK (AP) - Peter Jennings, the suave, Canadian-born broadcaster who delivered the news to Americans each night in five separate decades, died Sunday. He was 67. Jennings, who announced in April that he had lung cancer, died at his New York home, ABC News President David Westin said late Sunday.
"Peter has been our colleague, our friend, and our leader in so many ways. None of us will be the same without him," Westin said.
With Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, Jennings was part of a triumvirate that dominated network news for more than two decades, through the birth of cable news and the Internet. His smooth delivery and years of international reporting experience made Jennings particularly popular among urban dwellers.
Jennings was the face of ABC News whenever a big story broke. He logged more than 60 hours on the air during the week of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, offering a soothing sense of continuity during a troubled time.
"There are a lot of people who think our job is to reassure the public every night that their home, their community and their nation is safe," he told author Jeff Alan. "I don't subscribe to that at all. I subscribe to leaving people with essentially _ sorry it's a cliche _ a rough draft of history. Some days it's reassuring, some days it's absolutely destructive."
Jennings' announcement four months ago that the longtime would begin treatment for lung cancer came as a shock.
"I will continue to do the broadcast," he said, his voice husky, in a taped message that night. "On good days, my voice will not always be like this."
But although Jennings occasionally came to the office between chemotherapy treatments, he never again appeared on the air.
"He knew that it was an uphill struggle. But he faced it with realism, courage, and a firm hope that he would be one of the fortunate ones," Westin said. "In the end, he was not."
Broadcasting was the family business for Jennings. His father, Charles Jennings, was the first person to anchor a nightly national news program in Canada and later became head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s news division. A picture of his father was displayed prominently in Jennings' office off ABC's newsroom.
Charles Jennings' son had a Saturday morning radio show in Ottawa at age 9. Jennings never completed high school or college, and began his career as a news reporter at a radio station in Brockton, Ontario. He quickly earned an anchor job at Canadian Television.
Sent south to cover the Democratic national convention in 1964, the handsome, dashing correspondent was noticed by ABC's news president. Jennings was offered a reporting job and left Canada for New York.
As the third-place news network, ABC figured its only chance was to go after young viewers. Jennings was picked to anchor the evening news and debuted on Feb. 1, 1965. He was 26.
"It was a little ridiculous when you think about it," Jennings told author Barbara Matusow. "A twenty-six-year-old trying to compete with Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley. I was simply unqualified."
Critics savaged him as a pretty face unfit for the promotion. Using the Canadian pronunciations for some words and once misidentifying the Marine Corps' anthem as "Anchors Aweigh" didn't help his reputation. The experiment ended three years later.
He later described the humbling experience as an opportunity, "because I was obliged to figure out who I was and what I really wanted to be."
Assigned as a foreign correspondent, Jennings thrived. He established an ABC News bureau in Beirut, and became an expert on the Middle East. He won a Peabody Award for a 1974 profile of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
On the scene at the Munich Olympics in 1972, Jennings was perfectly placed to cover the hostage-taking of Israeli athletes by an Arab terrorist group. He and a crew hid in the athletes' quarters for a close-in view of the drama.
Jennings returned to the evening news a decade after his unceremonious departure. In 1978, ABC renamed its broadcast "World News Tonight," and instituted a three-person anchor team: Frank Reynolds based in Washington, Max Robinson from Chicago and Jennings, by then ABC's chief foreign correspondent, from London.
Following Reynolds' death from cancer, ABC abandoned the multi-anchor format and Jennings became sole anchor on Sept. 5, 1983.
Starting in 1986, Jennings began a decade on top of the ratings. His international experience served him well explaining stories like the collapse of European communism, the first Gulf War and the terrorist bombing of an airplane over Lockerbie, Scotland. He took pride that "World News Tonight," as its name suggested, took a more worldly view than its rivals. Fans responded to his smart, controlled style.
"When it's clearly an emotional experience for the audience, the anchor should not add his or her emotional layers," Jennings said in an interview with the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.
Two-thirds of local broadcasters responding to a 1993 survey by Broadcasting & Cable magazine said Jennings was the best network news anchor. Washington Journalism Review named him anchor of the year three straight years.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
posted on August 8, 2005 01:49:42 AM new
I remember watching him during the days following 9/11. For some reason I became obsessed with his tie. It was like about a day and a half into it when I realized he had finally gotten enough time away from the desk to change his tie.
I enjoyed Jennings because when he went into "conversation" mode he was able to turn a story around and make you see more than one side of it. We need more people with that ability in the news business.
He will be missed.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
No, I'm saying -- I'm merely -- I'm saying what I'm saying. I don't know why I'm always having people say, are you trying to say -- you know what you can do if you want to know what I'm saying is listen to what I'm saying. What I'm saying is what I said ...
posted on August 8, 2005 04:39:05 AM new
You know how they always say "goodnight" at the end of the broadcast? Well, he was one that always got my husband to say goodnight back to him on the TV. I always remember that. There was just something very straightforward and comforting about him. I just asked my husband why he would answer him, and he said because he was sincere. He said, "I knew he was telling me goodnite, I dont know about the rest of of the people,but I knew he was telling me goodnight"
I wonder if he declined treatments like chemo etc. and that's why he went so fast? I know in the beginning he said he was going for the treatment and might be back...but maybe he reconciled himself with this during that time?
It'd be interesting to see if he kept a journal on his thoughts of it. You would think he would, ...unless he was way too sick to do that.
[ edited by dblfugger9 on Aug 8, 2005 05:53 AM ]
posted on August 8, 2005 06:09:55 AM new
I wonder if his funeral will be here or in his native land Canada?
It would be nice if they did something of a memorial in New York near the ABC building or something.
They keep saying on the TV he just got tons and tons of mail when he announced he was ill,and they are getting more today. He had said was floored and overwhelmed with gratitude in realizing how much the public regarded him.
Why Toby Keith Ron? I dont get the connection? But then I dont keep up on country music much...
posted on August 8, 2005 06:22:17 AM new
Helen: Maybe it's supposed to be sarcastic? But I dont know enough about his music to even figure that out!! lol!
Or maybe Tobey Keith is from Canada also?
Aint got time to figure it out today.....
.
[ edited by dblfugger9 on Aug 8, 2005 06:23 AM ]
posted on August 8, 2005 12:57:56 PM new
I remember when I was a little kid seeing him as a foreign correspondent. He looked so handsome in a trench coat. He made you feel better during times of crisis with his calm way of explaining things. RIP
posted on August 8, 2005 01:15:59 PM new
I can't stand it when a vital, intelligent, talented man is lost too soon. I wasn't a big fan of his, but I also remember following him closely after 9/11. Nice of Bush to say a few words about him today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caroline
posted on August 8, 2005 06:34:48 PM new
The article(s) say he quit smoking 20 years ago, and started again on 9/11. I think its a real loss. He was a very good correspondent and anchor. And I remember he did the show 'In Search of Jesus' and got flack for that. I never did watch it, but I'm sure they will show it again sometime.
dbl I don't think Tobey Keith is from Canada, I'm pretty sure he's from the U.S.
Caroline