# When will ABC's lovefest over Peter Jennings end? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653 "2005-08-11T23:02:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/21 "2005-08-12T04:06:11Z")
Was he still doing the news recently? ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/22 "2005-08-12T04:06:19Z")
lekatt, how old do you think I am? Probably older than you think. I was a huge fan of Peter Jennings and watched him every night. It shocked and saddened me when he died. But let me tell you why I resent the lovefest. ABC is exploiting its custodianship of the airwaves. Don’t you think worthy and beloved leaders of corporations, universities, city halls, houses of worship, cultural organizations, etc. who have passed away have colleagues and admirers who would love to give them a send-up like the one Jennings is getting? Sure they would. But do they get it? No. Why? Because they do not have a worldwide TV network at their disposal. And then there is the tacky factor. What ABC is doing is just unseemly. It’s their job to report the news, not make it. And make it. And make it… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/23 "2005-08-12T05:29:29Z")
> [@marymargaret](#): > > Was he still doing the news recently? Not since he announced he had lung cancer on April 5. I’m not sure if that was when he stopped appearing as anchor, but I know he said it then and never made it back to the air. Back to Jennings for a moment: as all the obits have noted, the man never finished high school, and look at all the things he accomplished that you wouldn’t have expected in a profession that, these days, is geared around polished and educated men. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/24 "2005-08-12T13:04:41Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] The world isn’t honoring him. ABC is, and as much as he deserves the praise, it’d be foolish to suggest they don’t have their ratings or brand in mind as they do so. > [@](#): > > If you can not honor the dead, say nothing. > Nobody’s dishonoring the dead. The issue is the network. There was a very nice tribute thread to Jennings that started the night he died. > > What are you, the 2000 Year Old Man? You think everybody who disagrees with you is younger and doesn’t understand. Not everything that happens in the world is a conspiracy. Not every deed is dishonest. Not every human emotion is faked. Grow up. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/25 "2005-08-12T13:09:35Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > Once again, ABC is confusing fame with importance. To claim that Peter Jennings touched all of our lives is really a ridiculous statement to make. He read the news for 22 minutes a night and that’s that. He did a fine job of it, but so could many, many other people. The airwaves belong to the pulbic, and the purpose of the network news is to inform the public of the important events going on in the world. The death of Peter Jennings is deemed important only because he was personally known to the people at ABC. That does NOT make his death important or newsworthy to everyone else. Peter Jennings was known the world over. He traveled to many countries reporting the news. It was his job to find, and present that which was newsworthy. No one could have done it like he did. He was especially liked for bringing the causes of the poor to the news room. You evidently don’t know much about him or how the news works. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/26 "2005-08-12T13:16:36Z")
> [@stuyguy](#): > > lekatt, how old do you think I am? Probably older than you think. > > I was a huge fan of Peter Jennings and watched him every night. It shocked and saddened me when he died. But let me tell you why I resent the lovefest. ABC is exploiting its custodianship of the airwaves. Don’t you think worthy and beloved leaders of corporations, universities, city halls, houses of worship, cultural organizations, etc. who have passed away have colleagues and admirers who would love to give them a send-up like the one Jennings is getting? Sure they would. But do they get it? No. Why? Because they do not have a worldwide TV network at their disposal. > > And then there is the tacky factor. What ABC is doing is just unseemly. It’s their job to report the news, not make it. And make it. And make it… It is not a lovefest, it is honoring the accomplishment of great person. They are not exploiting the airwaves, it is their right to present what they do. They they do it worldwide should be obvious, Peter was known worldwide. I don’t care how old you are in years. I was not referring to that. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/27 "2005-08-12T15:09:11Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > Not everything that happens in the world is a conspiracy. Who said anything about a conspiracy? I’ve argued against every conspiracy theory I’ve ever heard on this site. > [@](#): > > Not every deed is dishonest. Not every human emotion is faked. I said nothing about dishonesty or fakery. I heard his colleagues talk about him the night he died and I thought their emotion was totally genuine. I still do. They knew him, worked with him and cared about him for a long time. As I already said - sadly, you’re making the repetition necessary - we’re talking about _ABC, the network_, and some of the programming decisions they’ve made. This is neither an evaluation of Peter Jennings or of his friends and co-workers. Do you get that yet? I was quite sad he died. I don’t begrudge the people who knew him any of their feelings. I think it’s a little excessive that so much of the mourning is taking place _on the air_, especially if it subtracts time from actual news coverage. Jennings was a public figure, but I think some of that grieving needs to be in private. That’d be better from a news standpoint and in my opinion, more respectful to him. > [@](#): > > Grow up. I’ll confess amazement that you say these things without so much as a pinch of apparent irony. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/28 "2005-08-12T18:35:35Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Who said anything about a conspiracy? I’ve argued against every conspiracy theory I’ve ever heard on this site. > > I said nothing about dishonesty or fakery. I heard his colleagues talk about him the night he died and I thought their emotion was totally genuine. I still do. They knew him, worked with him and cared about him for a long time. > As I already said - sadly, you’re making the repetition necessary - we’re talking about _ABC, the network_, and some of the programming decisions they’ve made. This is neither an evaluation of Peter Jennings or of his friends and co-workers. Do you get that yet? I was quite sad he died. I don’t begrudge the people who knew him any of their feelings. I think it’s a little excessive that so much of the mourning is taking place _on the air_, especially if it subtracts time from actual news coverage. Jennings was a public figure, but I think some of that grieving needs to be in private. That’d be better from a news standpoint and in my opinion, more respectful to him. > > I’ll confess amazement that you say these things without so much as a pinch of apparent irony. Just change the channel, leave the people with their grief. ABC has every right to honor Peter as long as they wish. They don’t need your criticism, they already feel bad. Change the channel, leave them alone. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/29 "2005-08-12T20:12:59Z")
I don’t see a problem with remembering someone for a whole week after they’ve died, even if it is out of character for television. If they do this when Barbara Walters kicks it, though, I’m going to have to blow something up real good. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/30 "2005-08-12T20:49:45Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > Just change the channel, leave the people with their grief. ABC has every right to honor Peter as long as they wish. They don’t need your criticism, they already feel bad. Change the channel, leave them alone. I’m not watching it! But guess what: I’m still allowed to comment, and if I feel like it, I will. Grow up, deal with it, etc. As I said, and I’m not going to go back and count the number of times I said it, I’m not disparaging or questioning anyone’s grief. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/31 "2005-08-12T20:51:31Z")
Anyone else wonder if ABC (or the other networks) had the videography of Jennings life all put together and in the can prior to his passing? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/32 "2005-08-12T20:54:56Z")
By the way, a report came out today that CNN got word of Jennings’ death (or impending death), but decided to let ABC break the news. If true, that’s just embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![waits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df788c/32.png) [@waits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waits)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/33 "2005-08-13T01:19:13Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > Anyone else wonder if ABC (or the other networks) had the videography of Jennings life all put together and in the can prior to his passing? There was an article in the _New York Times_ earlier this week that claimed ABC had not prepared either a succession plan or a tribute. A short snippet from the article: _When asked to characterize the news division’s collective attitude in recent days and weeks, Paul Slavin, a senior vice president, said, “There was a combination of hope and not wanting to hurt the family.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653/34 "2005-08-13T03:48:18Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > No one could have done it like he did. Really? Done what? Look, if you want to be the president of your local Peter Jennings fan club, go for it, but enough of the nauseating hyperbole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-abcs-lovefest-over-peter-jennings-end/316653.md?page=1)