March 20, 2003

FoxNews is leading the pack in war coverage, IMHO. They are breaking news - reports of oil fires, new scud attackes, caution about the Saddam video tape. Shep Smith did a wonderfully even-handed job of straight "we report, you decide." Who knew Dan Rather would start to grow on me after all these years? I find myself tuning in to him more and more, and to Peter Jennings less and less. Dan makes up for the teadiousness of his quirky, homespun colloqualisms with strong, clear reporting. I noticed this first after the shuttle disaster in January. Peter, on the other hand, seems so flip sometimes, and hardly unbiased in his commentary. And why does a great reporter like ABC's John McWethy seem to be relying on general knowledge, when CSB's guy at the Pentagon, David Martin keeps sharing new, breaking information each time Dan turns to him in his tiny cubicle?

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