• L.A. Times (free registration required), Tuesday, December 20, 2005 11 AM

The Los Angeles Times' Matea Gold takes the occasion of year-end to reflect on the huge changes occurring at network news operations: Brian Williams has just completed his first year at NBC, ABC only days ago named its new anchor team to replace the late Peter Jennings, and CBS is still figuring out who would best succeed Dan Rather, with rumors swirling about daily that the network is trying to woo NBC's Katie Couric to the job. Meanwhile, the very role of "anchor" is under assault--or, at least, under scrutiny. In an age of 24-hour, round-the-globe live news, can two anchors possibly operate more effectively than one? ABC seems to think so, having installed Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff behind the desk formerly commanded by Jennings. Add to all that several relatively new layers of concern--cable news, live streaming, Internet blogs-- and one can easily see that network news is at an important inflection point in its evolution. Steve Friedman, a veteran of two network news operations, calls it a "seminal moment." He asks, "Is this cycle of anchors one of 20 years, like it was for the last guys?"

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