“America’s new reality tops our news tonight.” And with those words, NBC’s evening newscast became The Nightly News with Brian Williams. Sure, he was really talking about more troops in Iraq to help prepare for the Jan. 30 “election,” as well as new appointments, and resignations, in the Bush administration. But this first line of the evening was a subtle reference as well to tonight’s official changing of the guard.
The news media, with NBC obviously leading the way, has been lauding Tom Brokaw for some time (I wrote my own thing yesterday), and you can bet your ass that try as they might, CBS won’t be able to attract the same universal positive accolades, including from outside their network, for Dan Rather when he gives up his anchor chair in March. And while no more than a few minutes at the end of either last night’s or tonight’s broadcast were dedicated to even discussing this passing of the baton, both men managed their parts in gracious and characteristic fashion. However, these brief moments also expressed how these two men, both consummate professionals, are different, and why I think Williams may have some trouble keeping Brokaw’s audience.
15.4 million people – more than any audience in the past eight years – tuned in to see Brokaw’s final broadcast, and what they witnessed was a perfect example of why the anchor has been so successful. There was, in fact, a pass-off; a moment when Williams acknowledged Brokaw’s importance and Brokaw basically said directly to Williams, Here’s the chair; I’m sure you’ll do great, and we’re all counting on you. It was a the end of a report regarding wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. Williams was the reporter for the story, and to wrap-up, he said, “These young wounded vets might just be what some say is the emerging next greatest generation,” referencing the term Brokaw basically invented but has now become part of our national lexicon. Williams continued, “And with that, one last time, Tom, back to you.”
Brokaw’s response: “Thanks, Brian. Don’t go far because we have plans for you.”
After the commercial break, Brokaw acknowledged the importance of the moment. After a newscast just like any other, making no reference whatsoever to the relative importance of the evening, he said, “Well, the time is here.” Brokaw’s success is based on his ability to be simple and intelligent. He is the ideal All-American Midwestern farmboy who still managed to achieve lofty heights and importance without ever losing that quality the majority of this country loves. The goodbye that followed was elegant and gracious, connecting directly with the home viewer. Everybody watching this broadcast must have been able to imagine Brokaw speaking directly to them. And why not? In some ways, he was, as he always has.
As he reached the end of his comments, he seemed to choke up a bit. That normally steady baritone maybe even cracking once or twice? A smile across his lips, but also a slight glint in his eye. And then his final sign-off: ” That’s the nightly news for this Wednesday night. I’m Tom Brokaw. You’ll see Brian Williams here tomorrow night, and I’ll see you along the way.” The lights dimmed, he lowered his head, shuffled some papers and the picture switched into a montage of Brokaw through the years with Bob Hope singing a Brokaw-themed “Thanks for the Memories” in the background.
What must have been the feeling on that set? What was the reaction from the cameramen and PAs and producers. I assume applause; maybe some tears. But at the same time, they all had to come back and do it the next day.
Did as many people watch Williams debut as permanent anchor tonight? Probably not. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m actually a big fan of Williams, and it’s not like he’s never done the job before. He’s been Brokaw’s primary replacement anchor for the past decade, and he had his own newscast on MSNBC (and then CNBC) for a while until about a year ago. But Williams is slicker than Brokaw. He reminds me more of Peter Jennings — and I don’t mean that as a knock on either anchor – who never has had the connection with as large and loyal an audience as Brokaw had established. If Brokaw and Jennings had both been professors, Brokaw would have been teaching at a Big 10 school while Jennings would be in the Ivy League. He has an aristocratic haughtiness which shouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, but it does seem to be these days, especially if you’re one who votes with the majority of those living in red states. (Personally, haughtiness isn’t a negative quality unless it’s combined with arrogance and pretension, neither of which I would attribute to Jennings.)
Williams has that same quality, with a bit of an edge. If you saw him on The Daily Show the other night, you noticed how quick and funny he can be. That probably won’t come in handy much in his current position – certainly less-so than it did on his old cable show The News. But he talks with a deliberate flow, enunciating with the best of them that manages to sound conversational but still feel one-sided.
His comment at the beginning of the broadcast may not have specifically related to his new ownership of the anchor position, but, “And we’re back in a moment with a few thoughts on a new era” sure did. Sadly, as I’ve mentioned a couple times over the past week, the “new era” Williams is mentioning – his stewardship of The NBC Nightly News — is not really the era that began last week, and “this dream that started in a small town and in this great country” that arrived for him tonight simply no longer carries the same gravitas as it did when his predecessor took over in the early ’80s.
There was nothing wrong with what Williams said, and his final thoughts were understandably fewer than Brokaw’s last night. He was paying tribute to his “friend, mentor and leader,” and he acknowledged that “it was not quite the same around here today. While we will see him around here — and so will you after the most carefully planned vacation in American history — he leaves us as stewards of the broadcast he presided over and shaped on a daily basis.”
Even as a fan of Williams, it wasn’t difficult to see why those who loved Brokaw might not take to his replacement. Williams’ home town Elmira, NY – a whopping 7-1/2 square miles large – probably has more in common with Brokaw’s birthplace of Webster, SD than Manhattan, but I would guess most people see Williams as a perfect good-looking face for the Eastern liberal big-media elite rather than small town boy made good.
I’m sure people will give Williams a chance, and ultimately, I don’t think Brokaw’s departure, or Rather’s for that matter, will really become as big a boon for Jennings and ABC as it will for the cable nets. For some reason, I find that sad. Maybe it’s my oft-repeated love for the brilliant film Network, or maybe it’s memories of watching the news with my family when I was little, waiting for reports by my uncle from Iran, Syria, Italy … wherever ABC felt the need to send him; whatever the reason, and regardless of how much I love the all-news, all-the-time, at-your-fingertips world in which we now live, I somehow feel a sense of lost nostalgia for that period of broadcast journalism which is now gone. That’s probably why I’ve fixated on this truly gigantic moment in the history of television that in the grand scheme of themes probably has created less noise than the birth of Julia Roberts’ two hideously-named twins. (Hazel Patricia and Phinneaeus Walter? Is she kidding? Why do celebrities hate their children so much? Tangent. Sorry.)
Yes, its true. Most of this will be barely a blip on most people’s radars. Those 15.4 million people barely crack the top-10 most weeks, whereas other big TV events, major finales and the like, will usually garner at twice that number if not far more. Still, it strikes me as important, but I’m sure I’ve said more than enough. At least, that is, until March when Rather’s departure arrives as a completely different animal.
Out of Focus 