If you haven't heard...Peter Jennings is near death.

[DougieZero]

Some right-wing message boards are blasting him as a "mouth piece of the left"

Is there any evidence of this?

[Guaranteed]

1. Is there any evidence that he's near death?

I wouldn't call him a "mouth piece of the left." I would call him a very fair journalist, though, for the most part.

[FreedomAngel82]

2. I think so too

I haven't heard anything official though. I hope he's okay! They don't like him for his freedoms (:eyes:).

[DougieZero]

9. yeah

TVNewser has a cryptic message posted

newsblue.com claims ABC affilitates have been informed to prepare for his death

and some other media blogs have had sources all day contatct them about it. It's apparently true.

[BoardExplode]

10. I consider Peter Jennings to be a corporate media, right-wing mouth piece

But it is interesting to see how different our perspectives are

[Guaranteed]

14. I've seen him stick up for what's right quite a few times. nt

[ailsagirl]

34. Did anyone know he was born in Canada?

He has dual citizenship with the U.S.

[JerseygirlCT]

41. Yup

Just listen. You find a few organIzations in there from time to time!

[JerseygirlCT]

40. Peter Jennings has publicly admitted to being

a conservative. "Mouth-piece for the left"??????

[DemNoir]

3. I think

The "near death" rumour has been debunked.

[FreedomAngel82]

4. Really?

I hope so.

[sam sarrha]

13. Easy, Tell him it's a matter of national seurity, ..."Eye's only", and

everybody back home supports the War and he cant let them down.

No Problem.. Just Lie Again.. And Again, ...and Again,

there is rarely a shortage of cannon fodder.. that is what the draft if all about..

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. Any evidence of what? That he's near death or he's a mouth piece

for the left? I heard yesterday he was near death. If he's a Left wing mouth piece, that's news to me. I remember what he did during the FAUX News primary debate. I wouldn't call him a left winger.

[bertha katzenengel]

6. evidence that he's near death, or evidence that he's a "mouth piece

of the left?"

This is the first I've heard of the former, and as to the latter, well, we can just say that extreme RWNBs call anyone who doesn't spout off their line and theirs only a "mouth piece of the left."

[FreedomAngel82]

19. Oh of course

And it's really pathetic. Anybody who question's Bush or anything with the Bush agenda is a liberal. Did you know even Jessica Simpson is a liberal?

[bertha katzenengel]

42. Anyone who questions - yep. But --

who is Jessica Simpson? Never heard of her.

[bunkerbuster1]

7. Evidence that he's near death?

or that he's a "mouthpiece of the left"?

As to the former, that's sad but true:

http://www.nationalledger.com/scribe/article_2726142.shtml

as for the latter, well, he's Canadian, which is pretty much equivalent to being a Commie to a rightie anyway.

[kedrys]

8. He actually referred to the "insurgency" as "the resistance"

for one whole broadcast early this year. I hoped he'd keep it up, but evidently someone high up sat on him. :(

[riverrunner]

11. any evidence he's near death?

any link or anything?

[miss_kitty]

12. here's a link

http://www.nationalledger.com/scribe/article_2726142.shtml
The National Ledger
"Peter Jennings Reportedly Near Death
By CK Rairden
Aug 7, 2005

"Longtime ABC anchor Peter Jennings was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year and told ABC viewers in early April that he had the disease. He has not been able to return to the air on ABC.

Today Michelle Malkin points to several rumors that say his condition may have turned grave...

...None of this appears to be confirmed. But no matter the politics, prayers for all involved in this very trying time for the Jennings family."

It's the only article that comes up under "Peter Jennings" at the Google News site that says anything about this.

Also, once lung cancer is found, it is generally fatal, because it is not easily diagnosed, often because the symptoms are not recognised. By the time it is found, it is too far along to treat with an optimal outcome. :(

[riverrunner]

16. It's amazing how quick it can all turn around

Was he smoker? His entire life?

[candy]

23. Even some nonsmokers die of lung cancer---I don't know if he smoked or

not but what difference does it make? Would you blame him for his own disease?

[dflprincess]

27. I heard him say that he had been a smoker

- don't know for how long. He had quit, again, I don't remember for how long, but he started again after 9/11.

I'm also a smoker who's quit and gone back to smoking so I'm not saying this to imply his illness is his own fault. It's one of the nasty things about nicotine addiction. I have a friend who hadn't smoked for 10 years, then her brother was in a serious accident and lingered for several weeks. The stress of that drove her back to smoking. I can understand how a newsman would "fall off the wagon" in a stessful situation like 9/11.

[miss_kitty]

28. I believe he was a smoker

I think I have seen him with a cigarette. but that doesn't really matter. In recent years lung cancer has increased in the non-smoking population with the increase being greater in younger women.

[DemNoir]

17. Try reading it all

Update: Sunday, 9:59am: NewsBlues has removed its earlier statement, which stated that ABC affiliates were preparing for Jennings' death. An ABC spokesperson reiterated that this information was incorrect.

gezzz

[FreedomAngel82]

21. The media has a history of doing that

Remember the Pope?

[miss_kitty]

29. huh?

whacher point? what does "gezzz" mean?

I posted a link that said it was unconfirmed, and posted that part of the article.

On Edit: I guess my posting of the link pointing out the OP was jumping the gun was a subtlety lost on GD

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Trust Michelle Malkin?

Yeah, right.

[miss_kitty]

31. Again

I posted a link. The excerpt I posted showed MM was rumour-mongering. I posted the part that said the report was unconfirmed. what's your problem? Was my pointing out the OP was wrong too subtle for you? I guess so.

[Catholic Sensation]

15. there was a massive thread last night about this

most duers reacted with class and justified sadness for the potential passing of the best anchor in american history (in my opinion).

it's nice to see when suspicions of the forum becoming incredibly hideous start to creep up, the good people of du come out in force.

i wish this was the case for every thread

[wishlist]

18. He refused to air coverage of anti-Kerry Swiftboat liars on his news show

He also unrelentingly covered all the bad news from Iraq and failures of the Bush Administration constantly. My family watched his show nearly every night for years up until he became too sick to continue and we never felt that he had a RW slant or was a Bush apologist the way most of the TV hosts seem to be.

[Catholic Sensation]

22. one of my first memories is my mother and i watching him

in Palo Alto when I was three and my father was getting his post-doctoral degree from Stanford. I never watched another news person while I watched the news in this country during the 6:30 time slot.

He was a brilliant anchor who never showed political bias when doing his reporting. And when he was being interviewed by the likes of Conan and Jon Stewart, he showed remarkable humor and wit, unlike some other anchors *cough* brit hume *cough*

[Guaranteed]

24. Absolutely. I remember him being extremely intelligent

and well-poised.

Not that he's even dying. Just haven't seen him in awhile.

[undeterred]

25. Jennings quit smoking for 20 years then restarted September 11

I used to love Peter Jennings, and I always said if the world blew up I'd want to hear about it from him. I watched ABC all day on September 11 and Jennings seemed to be trying to ask the obvious questions like "where the hell is the President" but he was being restrained. He is very intelligent, and has covered some important stories and covered them well.

But I felt that he was totally muzzled after September 11 and I stopped watching him. I never thought of him as representing the "left" after that- he handled Bush with kid gloves. But who knows what kind of pressures he was under from the network?

Jennings is Canadian.

I really hope he recovers.

April 29 letter from Jennings:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=715587

July 29 thank you from Jennings for birthday wishes:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=990381&page=1

[ailsagirl]

37. "But who knows what kind of pressures he was under from the network? "

That's the thing. I used to watch him years and years ago--
but, like you, I saw that he was treading a bit too gingerly
on anything having to do with bushco.

[Massacure]

43. I don't know about the pressure from big wigs, but I do know one thing.

He did call Osama bin Laden a son of a bitch on air. Peter was on air until late into the night and by the time he was done, it was very obvious he was pissed off.

[undeterred]

45. I believe he was in Munich at the Olympics in 1972 with Jim McKay

when the Israeli athletes were killed. September 11 wasn't the first terrorist story he covered.

I'll bet he knows a lot of things he could never say on air.

[shelley806]

26. Some DUers last night were blasting him as the epitome of evil...

What else is new?

[undeterred]

32. showing we can pick up the language of the right

EVILDOERS!! :evilgrin:
But we should save it for those far more worthy than Peter Jennings.

[shelley806]

33. Went back to the post, and ALL of her comments were removed

except one; Many deleted messages. Some of them were actually partially warranted criticisms IMHO, but it was such poor taste to post such negativity while such a decent human being is dying. The poster last night essentially blamed him for the Iraq War, and the selection of B*, and consequently for the deaths of innocents.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4277802

[trudyco]

36. I always thought abc/Jennings was the right of center...

Rather/cbs was left of center... Brokaw/nbc couldn't decide and tended to be fluffy. They did try the "fleecing of america" which was a valiant if brief attempt at almost investigative reporting.

Jennings had some integrity and when the rest of the media turned hard right or got muzzled (Rather) he started looking like he was more in the center. He did dare to ask some questions but I think it was more like old guard Republican daring to question the Neocons. I hated his smirk and wiggly eyebrow. He was never kind to Clinton or the Democrats.

The only ones I ever liked were Walter Cronkite and Christian Amanpour/old CNN(where the anchors weren't important, just the reporters). Occasionally Rather said something useful but he was better as a reporter than an anchor.

Of course I'm sorry he has to go this way. It is such a painful way to go. Interesting he and Spector and Reinquist all have cancer. The CIA doesn't have a cancer death ray does it? LOL. Death of the old assholes, in with the new. At least the old had some integrity.

[Massacure]

44. It is my observation that Peter Jennings was never kind to anyone.

He always seemed very critical of things. It would be interesting to see what the editors did to his reports during Clinton versus during Bush.

[undeterred]

30. I poked around the ABC site and it all goes back to Michele Malkin

I really hope its not true. I hope he survives and returns to full health, and quits his network anchor position and uses his considerable journalistic skills and influence to uncover the lies of the Bush administration.

Edit: ABC denies the report.

[shelley806]

39. That would be sooooo lovely! Let's hope he undeterredly seeks the

truth of the B* administration, undeterred.

[Bumblebee]

35. Hope it's not true and while not "a mouth of the left," Jennings

is moderately liberal. I always liked him more than the other two anchors. Probably helped that he is a Canadian :)

[Renew Deal]

38. That's terrible if it's true.

Jennings loved doing the news and he was a big advocate of the news at ABC. He was the first of the big three with a blog IIRC. He did a daily newsletter himself. He also has a young son IIRC. I hope it's not true.