My sense is that the network news should continue to play an important though diminished role in bringing information to people. After all, a combined audience of 29 million viewers is still many times the numbers cable is producing.

unless there's a compelling reason not to.

If I were making the decision, I imagine Charlie would anchor for another five or six years, ... they could get a 20-year ride, assuming TV news lasts another 20 years.

Al Gore Jr. acted with honor and conviction in volunteering for service in a war he despised. ... To save the seat of his father -- a political warrior in the cause of peace -- is, in my view, an act of sacrifice and high patriotism, not hypocrisy. It is also a step few born to privilege would take, regardless of their convictions. And from all accounts, Gore made a good soldier. He was well liked by peers and officers, and respected by both.

the potential to inflame is greater than the value of the piece itself.

I do not believe the press is guilty of the charge that it abandoned its healthy skepticism in Iraq , and I would hate to see it draw the inference from New Orleans that 'in your face' journalism is the panacea for restoring our lost credibility.