Noonan: And That's the Way It Was

Peggy Noonan in the WSJ provides as a public service, three suggestions for the owners of the networks to revive their news organizations. Do these things and good results will follow, including higher ratings. She is a terrific writer...thus a terrific read. Don't just read the tease below; read the whole thing...well worth it. Enjoy!//JW sends.

So take all that money and get yourselves some talented, hungry correspondents. A lot of them. They should be all over Africa, South America, the Mideast and Europe, with talented crews.

Stop with the Stepfordism. Don't get bright young blondes named Kimmy, Kubby and Koopy. Instead, rehire the great old guys and women you started laying off in the 1980s because they were getting a little fat, a little old, a little untelegenic. They didn't pop ,so you popped them.

Hire them back. They're all teaching in journalism schools. and they miss the game like you wouldn't believe. They'll be thrilled with a second chance, and they'd bring back some of the authority the networks have lost. This is a whole country that enjoys looking at Sipowicz on "NYPD Blue." This is a whole country that's aging. We don't want to watch cupcakes on network TV. That's what local is for. (Added benefit: when you rehire all these old pro's it will be a story, get publicity, and the Disney Co., itself eager to return to its roots after decades of cynicism and scandal, will make a hit two-hour movie about it. Because it's a good story!)

Then open it up--trust your correspondents in the field. Let them tell you the story. Don't tell them what the story is from New York, after you've read the Times and the Washington Post. Let them tell you the story. Let them be our eyes.

What really happened today in Iraq, what are U.S.soldiers doing, what's the mood in the green zone among people who've been there a while? What are they selling in the local candy store in Tikrit, what are young men doing for jobs, what are mothers making for dinner, what's available to put in the pot, how are the schools going, is it usual for an 8-year-old girl to go to school each day or has that gone by the boards because of war? What do American soldiers think of what Americans back home think of the war, what is their impression of our impression? What does a "letter from home" look like now? Is it a DVD? What is it like to live in a place where everything's been fine and calm for 10 days and you know you've turned a corner and just as you're thinking this there's an explosion 10 blocks away and suddenly you hear sirens and people are cowering in doorways?