As George Santayana noted long ago, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
In the case of “the writer,” to say the least, he has failed NBC News History 101 — again.
Now, I’m not going to rehash Parts I through IV here. Want to relive them? Go to www.DougMorris.org/search and type the question “Who can you trust?” in the search box. Parts I through IV should appear in the results.
With that, here’s a screengrab of the latest failure — as of 4 a.m. Central today…
…to attempt fairness, “the writer” did correct the story in the day — reporting that Deborah Norville succeeded Jane Pauley. However, it would’ve behooved “the writer” to add something like this…
Editor’s Note: In an earlier version of this story, FTVLive erroneously reported that Norville succeeded Katie Couric. FTVLive apologizes for this inaccuracy.
…or words to that effect. TV stations issue disclaimers like this when necessary for their online content. Why can’t “the writer”?
Doug’s Place Flashback #1: This isn’t easy to write about — but it’s necessary for the sake of this discussion. I got to witness some of the brilliance of Dennis Richmond during a vacation to San Francisco in 1999.
From what I’ve heard and read, Richmond demanded nothing short of excellence. When Richmond, a retired TV news anchor, passed away, the station that had long been his home initially got his age wrong — reporting he died at 82.
KTVU later corrected the error, reporting he died at 81 and noting the mistake near the end of this story.
Doug’s Place Flashback #2: This is a major turn — but again, necessary for the sake of this discussion. How could “the writer” botch this in the first place? If you’re a viewer of a certain age, you remember the following as if it were yesterday.
\ The on-air transition at “Today” with Pauley saying farewell and Norville taking over.
\ The final episode of the original “Dallas” on CBS, which mocked the transition during J.R. Ewing’s extended dream sequence.
\ Johnny Carson’s plethora of jokes about the Norville/Pauley saga. They’re bound to pop up on the Antenna TV network and/or Carson’s official streaming channel. If you look hard enough, you might even find a Carnac the Magnificent gag about this on Carson’s official YouTube channel.
\ The tabloid headlines. Need I say more?
It’s bad enough “the writer” calls out WTIC television in Connecticut for sloppy reporting that subscribers can only read on Patreon. (Think I’m signing up?) But to prove to be a sloppy reporter is something else entirely.
As for Norville, to “the writer’s” point, yes, she has made an excellent comeback after the “Today” drama. As for Norville’s next adventure, believe it or not, she will be hosting a game show after her last day at “Inside Edition”. As a lover of fun and games, I am looking forward to this.