I won’t even attempt to link to all the great posts and memorials to this man. I simply want to add my perspective on a life well lived and remembered. Peter Jennings was the face of the news for me through much of my early life, at at time when news began to catch my eye (my 20’s and 30’s). He was the anchor I most enjoyed to watch because he always portrayed a classy, caring, charm that made you feel like he was not on a mission to get someone (as with Dan Rather).

Until I found the new non-mainstream media sources, he was the one I felt I could trust to get something of a straight representation on the day’s events. And he proved that was not a totally bad assumption even after the time when the internet took off and other news sources became widely available.

He worked in some of the worst and most controversial locations. But he was able to retain a high degree of objectivity and restrain from the partisan jibes that most people feel when confronted with bloody, frustrating situations. The need to blame someone for not stopping tragedy is strong, and too many in the media fall prey to the desire to blame some in the US for the natural faults in humanity.

Jennings was not immune to the partisan slip, do not get me wrong. But he had very good control of it, was aware when it happened and I think honestly did as much as he could to tamp it down. He did not seem dismissive of the concept there was a liberal leaning in the press, of the problems it posed. Though he seemed blind to the obvious solution at time times – diversity of thought in the media – he was not against correcting the inbalance.

I will miss Peter Jennings in many respects because he was the best the MSM had to offer. He represented, to me at least, a hope that here was a role model for the industry to strive for – verses what we ended up with from Dan Rather and his fake-but-true standard.

If we can do anything to honor this good man, it would be for us on the right side of the political spectrum to acknowledge all the good things he accomplished in his career and as a family man. Not that we wouldn’t do so, but to do so with energy and purpose and respect so as to signal to our political opponents were we can find common ground.

To respect a man who represented a brand or form of news media that we could, in most cases, take pride in. If that was Peter Jenning’s legacy, I think he could truly rest in peace with a proper legacy for all of us.

UPDATE:

OK, one exception to the linking. Here is President Bush on Peter Jennings:

“Laura and I were saddened to learn about the death of Peter Jennings,” the president said. “Peter Jennings had a long and distinguished career as a news journalist. He covered many important events, events that helped define the world as we know it today.

“A lot of Americans relied upon Peter Jennings for their news. He became a part of the life of a lot of our fellow citizens, and he will be missed,” Bush said. “May God bless his soul.”