In 1987, around the time of Oliver North's testimony in the Iran-Contra hearings, 'Forbes' noted, "About 35 million Americans watched the network evening newscasts each night, turning to Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw to make sense of the world."
Tom Brokaw told viewers in 2004, "Whatever the story, I had only one objective - to get it right. The enduring lessons through the decades are these: It's not the questions that get us in trouble, it's the answers. And just as important, knowing no one person has all the answers."
Peter Jennings told 'Columbia Journalism Review' in 1997, "The evening news is not this font of perceived wisdom that our critics say we think we are. We are another institution on the national playing field and we respond in some considerable measure to how the really powerful institutions in the country operate – the executive branch, the Congress, the Pentagon, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in the old days the CIA."
Peter Jennings also made the point, "There are tons of people out there, who say 'Well just do this, do that, you should be doing this, you shouldn't be doing that.' But journalism is nothing if not a rolling experiment. We get up every day trying to figure out what is relevant to people in this country, and we very often don't know that answer in any immediate sense."
As pointed out, "In decades past, interrupting soap operas and game shows (on daytime TV) to carry a news event live was a clear signal to viewers that something of national importance was happening." At the time, Peter Jennings on ABC, Dan Rather on CBS and Tom Brokaw on NBC were the anchors who were always there, telling vastly greater numbers of people countless important stories from serious news of the day such as congressional wrangles and Middle East peace talks to news relevant to the viewers, comprised a wide range of issues in health, education, religion and the environment.
From the then Yugoslavia war to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dan Rather added, "Because we (CBS News) have a reputation for being a hard-news outfit, we manage to stay in the hunt. I believe if we go the soft-news route we fall farther behind. I don't hear anybody among our viewers complaining that we run too much foreign news. I do find viewers complaining when we run something they feel is a waste of their time – like a soft feature."
Tom Brokaw begged to differ, "I travel across this country a lot and everywhere I go I hear what people are talking about and what interest them and what they are desperate to know about. And a whole lot of that has very little to do with what we would routinely put on the air then - fifteen years ago (around 1982)." Hence NBC News as well as others began showing a "rich mix of different kinds of stories." Or "news you want"; "news you can use".
The UK 'Independent' reported in 2003, "While presidents and celebrities have come and gone, the 'big three' news anchors have endured (for over 20 years), providing a reassuring presence through the nation's wars and crises. They are not so much part of their respective network's news brand as the very brand itself. For example, even when he is away on (vacation) and a stand-in presenter is in the chair, the early-evening news on NBC remains 'Nightly News with Tom Brokaw' - his name firmly above the title."
'The New Yorker' reported in 2005, "The Rather factor is measurable.
Twice a year, a firm called Marketing Evaluations produces for subscribers what is known as Performer Q Scores, which divide the percentage of the public that rates a personality 'one of my favorites' by the percentage of the public aware of the personality. Rather's Positive Q Score is comparable to that of his counterparts. Where one sees a bigger difference is in Rather's Negative Q Score, which is more than 25% higher than either Brokaw's or Jennings's. The only prominent news person with a higher negative rating than Rather is Katie Couric."
In 1996, Pew Research Center released a survey of the public perception of the believability of news. The Center clarified, "Respondents were asked to rate various individuals and organizations on a four-point scale, with '4', the highest ranking, meaning that 'all or most' of what that person or organization says was considered believable."
As understood, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw both rated 29%. Peter Jennings' rating was 27%. As a result 'CBS News' and 'ABC News' had ratings of 30%, while 'NBC News' was rated at 28%. The Center also reported, "Print ratings continue to lag behind those achieved by the TV networks, for the most part.
Demographically, the decrease in believability of television and its anchors has occurred primarily among older Americans, both in the 30 to 49 year old group and the 50 and older group.
"News consumption habits show some clear demographic patterns. Network TV news and local TV news are watched regularly more by older viewers, for example. Older persons also read newspapers regularly to a greater extent, although high newspaper readership is correlated with high education, as well as age.
Nightly network news shows are viewed regularly by 64% of people 65 years old or older compared to only 22% among under 30s.
"Democrats are more likely than Republicans to tune in (47% vs. 39%), as are non-computer users more than users (50% vs.35%).
Cable News Network (CNN) scored highest in believability among the networks.
CNN is watched regularly more by men than women, as well as older persons and better educated persons.C-SPAN is seen regularly by twice as many men as women.
"Daily newspapers were read 'yesterday' far more often by older Americans (70% 65 years old and older vs. 29% under 30), whites more than blacks (52% vs. 37%), and the better educated (64% of college graduates vs. 35% of those with less than a high school degree).
NPR is listened to more often by college graduates (22%) and online users (20%) than average (13%).
Religious radio is heard more often by older Americans (17%), blacks (25%) and Southerners (17%) than average (11%)."
News producer Leroy Sievers told the 'Baltimore Sun' in 2004, "If you ask people what network they watch, they'll say Peter or Dan or Tom. They are the embodiment of their news divisions, and that's a large responsibility, a large burden."
'Columbia Journalism Review' made the observation in 2012, "Together, the three network newscasts still attract more than 23 million viewers every weeknight — almost a third of the people watching television at 6:30 in the evening. Each broadcast has an audience bigger than any other single source of news.
In fact, with all the attention given to cable news, it’s worth noting that even the lowest-rated network newscast alone has an audience more than two-and-a-half million people larger than the combined audiences of the 6:30 news programs at Fox News, CNN, HLN, MSNBC, and CNBC."
