Brokaw 'got it right'

There's an art to saying goodbye. You want to leave when you're on top. You want to exit when people feel it was too soon for you to leave.

As America witnessed Tom Brokaw step away from the NBC News anchor desk this week, a position he had occupied for 21 years, there was an overwhelming sense that Brokaw had done it right. He didn't overstay his welcome and he left with his newscast at the top of the ratings, as it has been since 1997.

In his final "Nightly News" broadcast, Brokaw expressed his gratitude to television viewers. "Thanks for all that I have learned from you," his voice wavering ever-so-slightly. "That's been my richest reward."

His objective, whatever the story, was "to get it right."

Brokaw's commitment to truth and fairness was his hallmark, a quality sorely lacking in an industry with endless hours of broadcast time to fill with the advent of cable television. The industry now places a higher premium on fast than good.

Brokaw's retirement causes us to ponder the future of television news. It's doubtful his successor will enjoy the same longevity in the anchor's chair. This is no indictment of Brian Williams' talent or appeal. Rather, it is a statement about the here-today-gone-tomorrow nature of the television news business. Cable networks, seeking viewers and greater credibility, have lured some of the best talent from the networks with sizable salaries and fairly lengthy contracts. In other words, there's far more churn in the business than there was in the past.

It's doubtful that viewers will have the same degree of familiarity with tomorrow's news anchors as they have with Brokaw, CBS News' Dan Rather, who will retire in March and ABC's Peter Jennings.

But among the three, the ratings suggest that Americans have clearly favored Brokaw. As Jennings explained that Brokaw "has demonstrated time and again that he does not favor power and maybe it's his roots in South Dakota, out there on the Lewis and Clark Trail, he has a common touch and a good ear."

Unfortunately, those qualities among journalists are becoming increasingly scarce.