Peter Jennings

You know, I'm usually not one for anything but simply noticing that a celebrity of some sort or another has died. No great sense of loss or sadness. After all, everybody dies. And, after all, celebrities usually have received a great deal from their position in society -- and sometimes when they die it's through having mismanaged that great good fortune. There are only a few exceptions for me. This may sound Beatle-wonkish, but I felt genuinely sad when George Harrison died. The quiet Beatle was brilliant, honest, and tried to matter beyond his music. He died too young and it was a real loss. Ibrahim Ferrer, who died a couple of days ago, had found deserved international recognition at long last through his work in Buena Vista Social Club. It's the kind of death where we may regret the loss of a gentle man and beautiful voice, but know he lived a good and long life.

I'm going on a bit longer than I had wanted, but I have the same sort of genuine sadness with the passing of Peter Jennings. I no longer watch network or cable news -- preferring newspapers -- because so much of it is useless or distracting or oversimplifying or prejudice-affirming junk, when not the simpleton's treacle. I'm under no illusions that the route to broadcast or cable news anchor is anything other than one that is heavily managed and blow-dried. But with the death of Peter Jennings and the retirement of Dan Rather, we've witnessed the end of the last tattered threads of old-school television journalism. Jennings straddled the line, but his connection to the old school, the one where criticism was not heresy and challenging questions weren't out of political bounds, came through his subtle sardonic smiles and slightly raised eyebrows. That's what we had left. Now and then, he was capable of probing questions or interjecting a dose of reality into political rhetoric and wrangling or presenting us with the blunt realities of genuine news. And now and then he was capable of taking up the role of responsible journalist rather than the anchor's contemporary role of high-profile mascot for a vast corporation.

So, yes, I'm a bit sad today. I think Jennings was generally a decent and responsible guy. But his death also marks the final passing of reality-based news into vapid, loud, faith-based political advertising and missing white woman reporting.