THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230054
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 108 lines
THIS IS THE BEST of times for ABC anchorman Peter Jennings, who will participate today (by satellite from Manhattan) in the 12th annual communications conference at Norfolk State U.
Jennings' ``World News Tonight'' is consistently No. 1 in the ratings, and a few weeks ago Jennings was voted best national anchorman by America's radio and television news directors.
So, why isn't the urbane, handsomely tailored Jennings - he could be a model for GQ - perfectly relaxed and enjoying all of this?
Because he knows there's a Dan Rather and a Tom Brokaw out there just dying to be No. 1. He also knows that the cable news channels - CNN, MSNBC and the recently launched Fox News Channel - are spending millions to steal away his audience.
Who can relax in such a prickly environment? TV news is a jungle with man-eating beasts behind every tree. Jennings is aware of that because he has been in the business for decades - first as chief foreign correspondent in Europe, Vietnam and the Middle East, and then as anchor from 1965 through 1968 when he was a kid.
It was back to the anchor desk for good 13 years ago.
``We're mindful of what the competition is doing. We realize that if we're not careful, we can get a bit stale. With all the other information available to people on television, we must be sure that we hit sharply on what we do best,'' said Jennings when he addressed TV reporters earlier this year.
To cast out the staleness, ABC has given ``World News Tonight'' a fresh mod look including new features designed to help solve problems after ABC has reported on them. Local ABC affiliate WVEC took a cue from the network and recently re-designed its news.
Both Jennings and Channel 13 are No. 1 at the dinner hour here.
Jennings is scheduled to beam into the NSU conference at noon today. It's unusual for Jennings to break from his duties as anchor and senior editor at ABC to take part in seminars and such - even by satellite.
``I don't take speaking engagements as a rule, and when I do it perhaps once a year, it's usually to speak at a university,'' said Jennings. He is not against a university or organization paying a TV reporter to make an address, unless. . .
Unless what?
``One should never speak for money before an organization one might have to cover in the course of a career.''
There was a piece in TV Guide a few years ago in which Jennings, Brokaw and Rather were identified as the ``last anchormen.'' The piece suggested that the networks' evening newscasts were about to become dinosaurs in a era of wall-to-wall news on cable and computer online services.
Does Jennings feel that he is riding a dinosaur? Will ABC's ``World News Tonight'' soon be as relevant to the 1990s as Bedrock?
Jennings believes that nightly network newscasts are hardly irrelevant in the 34.7 percent of American homes not wired for cable. Or for millions not yet swept up into the Internet.
``As the information universe explodes, those of us who are at the center of it, those of us who are doing the evening news programs, must face up to the challenge of finding something that isn't available to viewers on local television or cable television,'' he said.
``Our newscasts show great strength in time of crisis. We can be on the air from our headquarters in New York City in five or 10 minutes after the event takes place. It is the kind of thing we do very well at the networks.''
When ABC last year announced it would compete with CNN, NBC and Fox in cable news, nobody was happier than Jennings. He endorsed the ABC cable channel and campaigned for it only to learn soon after Disney bought ABC that plans for ABC's 24-hour cable channel were dropped. (For the record, ABC and Disney say the cable news channel has not been abandoned, just put on hold).
With the vote for the White House just days away, Jennings no doubt will hear a question or two about politics in his link-up with the NSU conference. Speaking of the 1996 campaign, Jennings said he believes the young voters have tuned out.
``I don't see any signs of enthusiasm among the young voters. It's sad that there isn't an enormous amount of excitement out there for the political process.''
It was a polite tongue-lashing from somebody whose interest in American politics is strictly business. Jennings is a Canadian.
Grady H. James, the conference founder and coordinator, announced that Pioneer in Media awards this year will be awarded to Norfolk native Preston A. Davis, president of broadcast operations and engineering, ABC Television Network Group; Debra L. Lee, president and chief operating officer for Black Entertainment Television Holdings Inc.; John J. Oliver Jr., chairman-publisher and chief executive officer of the Afro-American Co. of Baltimore, publishers of three newspapers.
Other Pioneer in Media awards will go to Norfolk State grad Tim Reid, star of the Warner Brothers sitcom ``Sister, Sister'' and film producer; Michael Wilbon, sports reporter and columnist for The Washington Post, and Marquita Pool, senior producer for CBS News' ``Sunday Morning.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
ABC
ABC anchorman Peter Jennings will likely hear a question or two
about politics in his satellite link-up.
NSU CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
TODAY
10 a.m. to 11:45: Sports journalism panel discussion with Michael
Wilbon of the Washington Post, Kelly Carter of USA Today, Roxanne
Jones of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Gus Johnson, play-by-play
announcer for the Minnesota Timberwolves
Noon to 12:30 p.m.: Peter Jennings, ``World News Tonight,''
session live by satellite from Manhattan
2 p.m. to 4 p.m.: ``Getting On Line'' panel discussion with John
J. Oliver Jr., chairman and publisher of the Afro-American Co. of
Baltimore; LaWanda Stone of Digital Link Inc.; and Paul McGirt of
Infoline/Infonet
For events Thursday and Friday, see daily calendars in The Daily
Break. by CNB