Peter Jennings, the anchor of World News Tonight since six months after I was born, died today. All of my life, ABC News was the only television show that I really wanted to watch to get the news. Despite occasional comments about world events that I disagreed with, I always enjoyed watching his presentation of the news, particularly when he was doing a special bulletin and had to rely on his vast knowledge of world events to fill empty time between reports from the field. The viewer always got the feeling that Jennings cared about his viewers as well as the people he was reporting about. I still remember watching his broadcast that tried to explain what was going on for children during the first Gulf War in 1991 — it was a Saturday morning when there normally would have been cartoons. Such a heartfelt desire to explain what was going on — not just to his peers and adults who were interested in the news, but to children whose lives it was effecting as well — are the mark of a truly great journalist.
Peter Jennings, you will be missed.