It was all downhill after that egomaniac, Dan Rather, forced Uncle Walter into an early retirement.

Aye, but that was CBS. ABC News is a different enough animal.

Nah, all three became light weights after Walter was forced out as the ratings indicate, but Dan overstayed his welcome well past the age than that of his former mentor when he had him kicked to the curbside. I still can't believe that he is still fighting for $70 million after fabricating a story and running with it about the last Pres. Bush, claiming that it lead to a perceived firing in the media.

Peter Jennings' career does speak volumes about a country where a “foreigner” can rise to be the preeminent news voice though (actors are a different animal). While I personally lost a lot of respect for the way he only really came out against smoking after it had totally ravaged his body, he was a lot more interested in the “world news” moniker that the other two networks didn't delve deep enough into for my tastes. Personally, I liked the folksy delivery of Tom Brokaw better than Peter's too-polished feel, but they both came off much better than the brash and abrasive Dan Rather.

I see your point about the post-Walter Conkrite era, especially about Dan Rather.

As for Peter Jennings, while I agree it does "speak volumes about a country where a 'foreigner' can rise to be the preeminent news voice," for the reason I believe you're thinking of, it also says something that so few people knew about it.

That is, ultimately those who knew didn't really mind, but it was still kept sort of as "something we don't publicize" because of a perception that some in America wouldn't be happy if they knew.

As if, in those days, being Canadian was like being gay.

I always did like the international take he brought to the show. It was world news indeed, at least as much as Americans would go for.