This ain't your momma's newscaster

Last week, NBC was celebrating their 50 years of broadcast television history. During the usual reminiscent clips, they showed some milestones, what was happening politically & culturally, and tragic times in our nation's history. As usual, they brought up some of the great anchors that brought us the news: Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, Jim Lehrer and the like. Maybe it's just me, but I never understood how sappy & emotional older people get over these newscasters. They've always seemed old & pompous. I mean, come on, they're just reading from the Tele-E-Prompter like anyone else; they're not making the news! Maybe they were so wonderful because they were the first TV stars, back when TV was all shiny and new. I picture these guys behaving like Ron Burgundy when the cameras aren't on.

Then, I thought about our generation and how we'll look back on our newscasters when we're older. However, I think that our generation's idea of a great newscaster is going to be radically different from our parents or grandparents. We've grown up in an era where we're more likely to get our news from the Daily Show, the Colbert Report or a Saturday Night live skit. This is primarily because we see that generation of news reporting for what it is - some stuffy old guy telling you what the news is with an unwavering view from the Tele-E-Prompter and not questioning what's put in front of him. Just like what Ron Burgundy would do (Go f--- yourselves, San Diego!).

Today's great newscasters lead spirited political debates with guests and aren't afraid to offer a satirical look at the "news". So I guess my point is, before we develop cataracts & are unable to view our super HD plasma TV's several years from now, let's recognize the cool, soon-to-be great newscasters that we currently have and finally close the book on the network news past because if I have to watch one more retrospective on how Katie Couric is a sign of changing network news times; I'm going to scream.