Gary Nelson "Gary's World" Published Dec. 3, 2004

The news just won't be the same on NBC

He told me about so many important stories while I was growing up. He told me about John Lennon being shot and murdered. He gave me the presidential election results for the past 20 years. He even told me about the Berlin Wall being toppled over. I sat there glued to the television in my living room as he described the events unfolding on Sept. 11, 2001. I will miss his newscasting and sincere voice of concern.

As I watched the NBC Nightly News on Wednesday I realized this is the last time I'll watch Tom Brokaw anchor the news on a regular basis. Brokaw recently announced his retirement from the NBC Nightly News and Wednesday was his last sign-off. While the announcement didn't really shock me, it disturbed me a little as I thought about what it meant. Sure there will still be newscasters and anchors, but the news will be different.

It seems like an end to an era to me. Brokaw has always been there.

Brokaw has been anchoring the NBC Nightly News for more than two decades. He's been anchor and managing editor of TV's most popular evening news program. For me, and obviously millions of other viewers, he's always been THE guy that we've turned to for national and world news.

Not that I'm some old guy or anything, but some of the younger folks may not understand why this is such a big deal. They may think "so what - Brokaw's resigning - big deal."

Well, the big deal is that Brokaw is one of the top three (news guys) at the big three (networks). The first big three being Brokaw, Dan Rather and Peter Jennings and second big three being NBC, CBS, and ABC.

You see, the evening news world has changed since Brokaw took over broadcasting on the show in 1982. Television news has definitely changed over the years. In the early '80s, CNN was just beginning at the dawn of the cable TV era. News shows on MSNBC and Fox didn't even exist yet. In the early '80s and prior to that there were the big three for news. This is the news I grew up on. I have spent all of my adult life watching Brokaw.

I will be the first to admit that I am a news junky. I have to check it dozens of times a day. This goes deeper than just the news changing. Not only has the news scene changed a lot since then, the country and world have changed as well.

The millions of folks who grew up watching the big three are now too busy at 5:30 p.m. to watch. They're either running little Johnny to soccer practice, tennis class, guitar lessons or taking little Suzie to dance class. Not only are we a busier bunch, but millions of people, myself included, have resorted to using faster news sources such as the Internet for their primary news source. The TV news might be on in the background of the house for a silence filler. As opposed to a time when dad would come home and the family gathered around to watch the evening news.

Along with Brokaw, I also found out that Dan Rather threw in the towel and will be retiring soon. I can't say I blame either of them for retiring from the daily grind. It must be a challenge to come up with an interesting way to present the news to millions of viewers for more than 20 years. Brokaw says he is looking forward to personal time and the opportunity to work on documentaries at NBC News.

I will miss seeing him, though, on TV on a regular basis. Brokaw is one of the most respected news anchors of our time. He never really has been faced with the kind of public criticism that Dan Rather has recently seen at CBS.

For a guy who is one of the most recognized people on television, Brokaw has really stayed out of the limelight as far as publicity is concerned. He amazingly has kept his private life private. He has even branched out into other media as the author of "The Greatest Generation" books, which celebrate the men and women who fought World War II.

Heck, you have to respect him for that. During the most recent presidential election Brokaw said, as a political reporter, he has covered every presidential election since 1968. Now that's coverage.

I know I'm going to miss Tom, but I think I'm going to miss the news era that is gradually being ushered out with him even more.

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Gary Nelson is a Chronicle staffwriter. His column appears periodically in the Crossville Chronicle.