ABC News Anchorman Peter Jennings Dies of Lung Cancer at Age 67 Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Peter Jennings, anchorman of ABC's ``World News Tonight'' for 22 years, died yesterday at 67, according to a story on ABC News Web site. He told viewers on April 5 that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He died at his home in New York City, ABC News said. Messages posted today on the ABC News Web site offered words of support and calls for prayers for Jennings. In an April 29 posting on the site after he had begun chemotherapy, Jennings wrote, ``Yesterday, I decided to go to the office; I live only a few blocks away. I got as far as the bedroom door. Chemo Strikes.'' Jennings, a high-school dropout, began his broadcasting career on Canadian television show when he was 9 years old and worked his way up the ranks of television journalism. He became the youngest TV anchor when he hosted ``World News Tonight'' for the first time from 1965. He covered, first as a reporter and then as anchorman, world events ranging from the Kennedy assassination to the demolition of the Berlin Wall to the Sept. 11 attacks. Following the announcement of his illness, Jennings continued to participate in news meetings, ABC News said on its Web site. He posted several notes on the Web to fans, and a message of support July 8 to Londoners after terrorists bombed the transit system in that city. He had lived and reported in the British capital for 15 years. His last message was on July 29, thanking supporters for their birthday wishes. He turned 67 that day. In the April 29 message, he shared experiences with fellow cancer patients, describing a hug from a fellow sufferer he met on the street and the cancer death of Percy Heath, a jazz musician with the Modern Jazz Quartet, who died of bone cancer in April. Ex-Smoker ``I was a smoker until about 20 years ago, and I was weak and I smoked over 9-11,'' Jennings said on April 5 at the end of ``World News Tonight'' in announcing his illness. ``Living is the key word. The National Cancer Institute says that we are survivors from the moment of diagnosis.'' ABC News anchors Charles Gibson and Elizabeth Vargas have filled in for Jennings, who hasn't anchored the news since then. They have read statements from Jennings in several broadcasts since then. Jennings was born July 29, 1938, in Toronto. He began hosting at age nine a half-hour weekly children's show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., where his father was an announcer and an executive, according to the Web site of the Canadian Communications Foundation. He joined ABC News, now a unit of the Walt Disney Co., in 1964 and hosted ABC's evening newscast from 1965 to 1968. Rather, Brokaw Two other top news anchors at U.S. broadcast networks have departed since December, with CBS's Dan Rather and NBC's Tom Brokaw stepping down. Audiences for the top evening news broadcasts have declined during the past 20 years as consumers have turned to alternative news sources, such as cable channels including News Corp.'s Fox News Channel and Web sites. During the 1970-71 television season, 75 percent of U.S. homes with their TV sets turned on watched an evening news program on either CBS, NBC or ABC. That's plummeted to 37 percent for the current TV season. ``The Peter Jennings I know epitomized the era when the television networks were dominant and they spared no expense to cover the news,'' Bob Zelnick, chairman of the journalism department of Boston University, who worked at ABC News for 21 years, said in April after Jennings' illness was announced. ``He was a very strong voice off camera in terms of exercising his role as managing editor.'' Jennings became a U.S. citizen in 2003 and had dual citizenship with Canada, USA Today reported. His survivors include wife, Kayce Freed, children, Elizabeth, 25, and Christopher, 23, and Sarah Jennings, according to ABC News. A call after hours to the office of ABC News spokeswoman Megan Mollmann wasn't immediately returned.
I cried when I heard this. You know, when we grow up watching someone on TV, we start to feel like they are a friend. I grew up watching the news with my dad, and it was one of the the few things we had intelligent conversations about. (Well, that and football! LOL) We always watched World News Tonight. Now that my Dad is gone, I still watch it. Not every night, no, but most of them. And whenever something happens and there's a special report, I turn the channel to ABC and let Peter Jennings tell me about it. I don't know why, he's always been the one that's told me about it. You know how people remember Walter Cronkite tearing up when he read that JFK had passed live on air? Well, I remember Peter Jennings tearing up as he talked about 9-11. I hope they promote Charlie Gibson to take his place. I like his reporting style and his personality, and I think he will be good.
Yes, of the three big anchors Jennings is the only one I liked. But I don't watch the conventional news anymore, sad to say. The days of Walter Cronkite are long gone. Now the news feels just like any other sensationalist ploy for advertising dollars. I watch Jon Stewart instead. I get my news, I get to laugh, and he's a very intelligent guy. His 9/11 show had me crying. He's got a lot more to him than your usual talk show guy.
I grew up with Walter Cronkite and when he retired I chose Peter Jennings. I found him a knowledgeable and ethical field reporter. I've often thought I'd enjoy an evening chatting with him. He got to experience many of the world's historical events from the front row.
I also hope that Charlie Gibson is promoted. I just hope that he's not replaced on GMA. Yes, I was saddened to hear of Jennings' passing. He was one of the greatest news anchors of America. But on yesterday's news, there are talks of there being a permanent memorial installed in the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. I think it seems fitting... it was possibly his favorite place in Philly.
Yes, he was a good guy. Dan Rather was a bit weird even before he blew his credibility, and Ted Koppel is a stiff. I agree that Jennings seemed like a guy you'd like to be friends with.
