Where are Harry Reasoner and Howard K. Smith When You Need Them? Oh, That's Right, They're Dead (Sigh)

In the midst of all the news about healthcare reform, another story has emerged that I'm afraid has eclipsed the entire debate (at least for a few hours): Diane Sawyer may replace Charlie Gibson as anchor of ABC's World News Tonight!

Who's watching World News Tonight anyway? Ask their sponsors (99% of whom are pharmaceutical companies) and you'll find nary a soul under the age of about 60. The makers of Viagra, Nexium, Plavix, Lipitor, and other Rx's for "Over-the-Hillers" (like me) spend millions mononpolizing virtually every minute of commercials on WNT for the simple reason that they'll never reach such viewers through the internet.

But, just in case an occasional viewer under middle-age tunes in, WNT makes sure to say "visit ABCnews.com" as the tag line to every sentence they utter. Not to mention, the ABCnews.com graphic that's obnoxiously burned itself into my plasma TV's display.

I've watched ABC News on and off for the past 40 years and, frankly, it's never ever been as good as when Harry Reasoner and Howard K. Smith were at the helm. Now there were a couple of anchors! Oh well, I'll probably watch Diane, just like I watched Charlie, but never in the same way I watched Harry and Howard.

Whether it's Diane, Charlie, Katie, Brian, it really makes no difference anymore. Somewhere along the way, as prime-time news evolved into entertainment, these news anchors became entertainers. Nice to listen to and watch. Hard to really believe.

I suppose when I want the real story, the hard-facts, the truth, I'll just have to go to The Onion or The Huffington Post. Just kidding....