Guests:
Dr. Robert Thompson, Director of the Center for the Study of Popular TV at Syracuse University.
David Blum; Author of "Tick, Tick, Tick: The Long Life and Turbulent Times of 60 Minutes"
How will Americans be affected by the departure of network news anchors Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw? David Blum, author of a book about "60 Minutes," told The Factor the changing of the guard would hardly be noticed. "The evening news is no longer where people are getting their headlines," Blum said. "The networks just need to find a new way to get people to view them." Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University had a different take: "This is the end of the Rather era and the Brokaw era, but my guess is the people taking their places may be there just as long. There's no sign that the evening news is going away." The Factor contended the influence of network news is negligible and will continue its decline. "You've got the Internet, you've got talk radio, you don't need that service. The writing is on the wall."