Even though Peter Jennings' name was dropped from World News Tonight, I don't think anyone at ABC is being disrespectful. The name World News Tonight With Peter Jennings is not accurate anymore. It seems as though the world knows what kind of journalist he was and even though his name is not in the title now, I don't think that will cause people to forget what a phenomenal person he was. He was an important and influential person but sadly....it is not World News Tonight WITH Peter Jennings anymore. As far as people bombarding poor Westin with phone calls-I think it is a reasonable assumption to say that David Westin and Peter Jennings were friends. Does anyone think Peter would encourage this type of behavior?

I definitely don't think that Peter would've condoned such behavior. In fact, he even said in an interview that he didn't think that newspeople should be celebrities, they should fade in the background. Keeping the name up there would've conferred the kind of celebrity status Peter wouldn't have approved of. Plus, like it or not, it could inhibit other anchors from doing their very best on the air because there'd always be the spectre. It would be like being married to a widow or widower who always kept the deceased person's clothes and pictures around...just like in the Daphne DuMaurier story, Rebecca. I think ABC did the right thing with retiring the name...and that those who are making those angry calls need to put things in perspective.

You're right. He always avoided making himself part of the story, and ABC honors him by avoiding mawkish statements of their grief, much as I could have used more of them. David Westin seems to have acted with respect and consideration for Peter Jennings, for his staff, and for the integrity of the WNT ethos, which leads me to dare to hope there will be an honorable future for WNT.