Not What PETER Would Have Done

(From Newsday -- By Verne Gay)

Not long after PETER JENNINGS' death in August, someone at WORLD NEWS TONIGHT had the idea of printing up wristbands that read WHAT WOULD PETER DO?

As in -- What would Peter do if he were still alive and confronting all the perils and predicaments that a major TV news broadcast owned by Disney must face each day?

Launch a thoughtful and chilling anti-smoking series on WORLD NEWS TONIGHT?
Done.

Make sure the show got out front on breaking news stories like HURRICANE KATRINA?
Done.

Most especially, continue to make certain WORLD NEWS TONIGHT remained a vital, intelligent and competitive broadcast?
Done, done and done.

But what would Peter do about his own successor?

Jennings would choke on the word "retirement," but he probably would offer just one name -- CHARLIE -- signifying a friend and trusted colleague for the better part of an entire career.

So maybe this is just one more little reason it's been so hard for ABC to officially declare that CHARLES GIBSON -- a beloved figure at the network's news division and senior statesman after TED KOPPEL's imminent departure -- will not be the next anchor of WORLD NEWS TONGHT.

The future anchors will be BOB WOODRUFF and ELIZABETH VARGAS.

While cautioning that nothing's official yet, knowledgeable observers suggest that it's all over except for the wording of the press release.

Vargas will become the first female anchor of a weeknight newscast since CONNIE CHUNG was paired with DAN RATHER at CBS from 1993 to 1995.

For viewers, the choice of these two over Gibson should hardly represent a Hobbesian one. They're demonstrably excellent, and potentially even lend ABC an edge over NBC's NIGHTLY NEWS, which has one man, BRIAN WILLIAMS, at its helm. And while Woodruff is no household name, he's a superb newsman with all the seasoning of a veteran reporter; household recognition will come in due course.

Viewers should expect pretty much what they've already seen, with Woodruff occasionally on the road, alternating with Vargas in New York, and vice versa.

Not What Peter Would Have Done