Passing The Baton

To the Editor:
The recent departure of Ted Koppel after 25 years from ABC's long-running Nightline represents the end of an era.  Previous generations grew up around the television set, learning about events of the day.  Everyone had their favorite: Walter Cronkite, Roger Mudd, Dan Rather or Bob Schieffer (CBS); Chet Huntley and David Brinkley or Tom Brokaw (NBC); and Frank Reynolds, Max Robinson, Howard K. Smith, Harry Reasoner or Barbara Walters (ABC).  
Today's generation has many more alternatives to select from including all news radio, cable news stations such as CNBC, CNN and FOX, PBS, BBC, the Internet and bloggers.  A growing population of new immigrants support their own television stations.  
Local ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates have access to satellite broadcasts that duplicate many of the same stories carried by their national news broadcasts.  Even local independent stations such as News One, WNEW 5, WOR 9 and WPIX 11 have access to multiple satellite feeds.  Many local news stations sometimes send reporters to other parts of the nation and world for on-the-spot coverage.
Our view of the world has changed over time.  This may be due to the Big Three Networks no longer having a monopoly on the news.  How fortunate we are to live in a free society with a wealth of informative news sources to select from.
Larry Penner
Great Neck