Happy retirement, Barbara Walters

I couldn't let this day go by without a mention of Barbara Walters' retirement after fifty years in the news, views, and television specials business. I don't normally watch daytime television but I had to today, just to see her final appearance on The View, a show she created seventeen years ago. Barbara Walters was a huge role model for women in journalism, and on this day's episode of The View, Oprah Winfrey brought nearly every newswomen on the planet, said TNZ, to thank her for it.  She looked around at the dozens of young women standing around her and said, This is my legacy. And what a great legacy that is. Unfortunately my desire to work as a journalist and my training in journalism came a decade too soon. Even so, I thank her for what she has accomplished. The news business has not been the same since Barbara Walters became the first woman co-news anchor of the nightly news in 1976. Though her co-anchor at that time (Harry Reasoner) did not respect her or want a … [Read more...]