CBS News news might be good

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — There are two different ways to look at CBS's plans for its nightly newscast — one of which is encouraging, the other sort of horrifying.

Now that CBS is pretty much through apologizing for the flawed "60 Minutes" report about George W. Bush's service in the National Guard, which cost Dan Rather the anchor chair at "The CBS Evening News" — the network is trying to re-invent the newscast. And is looking at the possibility of multiple anchors.

"It's time to look at things in a new way," said Leslie Moonves, co-president and co-COO of Viacom and chairman of CBS. "The world is very different than it was when Walter Cronkite was sitting in the chair."

So, while there have been reports of CBS talking to everyone from Katie Couric to Anderson Cooper — reports Moonves refused to comment on — the network isn't necessarily looking at one person to inherit the "Evening News."

"Maybe it isn't that single guy or lady that you're looking for to take their place, "Moonves said. "Maybe it is reinventing the wheel to a certain extent."

He said it was "very possible" we might see a team of anchors, much like the four on the network's "Early Show" — a move made to differentiate that broadcast from "Today" and "Good Morning America."

"The Early Show" is still in third place, but its ratings have ticked up a bit. "There can be a parallel drawn to one of the solutions for the evening news — to make . . . more of an ensemble feel to it," Moonves said.

Which could be a good thing. Frankly, the cult of the news personality is a TV institution that's become increasingly troubling over the decades — TV news often seems to be more about the people delivering it than it is about the news itself. It's not about whether ABC or NBC or CBS has the best news operation, it's about which anchorman is the most likeable.

Which is something that local newscasts — including those in Utah — have built their reputations and ratings on for years.

And then there's the horrifying "Entertainment Tonight" syndrome that has infected local and national broadcast news, in which the reporter injects himself or herself into the story — sometimes overshadowing the story itself.