Issue date: 12/1/04 Section: Opinion

A rare moment of transition is about to occur right before all of our eyes. On Fri., Dec. 3 and then again next March, a network news anchor will leave his post. Many people may not see this as a monumental change, but it is.

It's not every day that one of the three network anchormen steps aside. Ask yourself when was the last time this happened?
It was 1983 when the legendary David Brinkley stepped aside, allowing a rather seasoned White House reporter named Tom Brokaw the chance to anchor the NBC Nightly News.

Before that it was the even more legendary Walter Cronkite who stepped aside for Dan Rather. Some will argue that the three major networks are bias or that even the men that anchor the broadcast are. Also it will be argued that the people reporting the news should somewhat resemble the people they cover; this is obviously not the case with three white men in those seats. All of these arguments are worthy of discussion, but it does not underscore the true importance of this changing of the guard.

Soon new faces will adorn our television sets through all that lies ahead of us. Even in an age of around the clock coverage from news organizations around the world, the numbers show, Americans still turn to the three big networks when news breaks and night after night, for their news coverage.

Now we can only hope that the network bigwigs make the right choice for the successor of Dan Rather. NBC already announced that Brian Williams would take Brokaw's seat. Perhaps CBS will choose a journalist of color, or a woman to fill the seat, but we won't hold our breaths.

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