During the Summer of 2001, I got into watching ABC's "World News Now." It was a pleasure to watch news delivered irreverently in the middle of the night, with less of the gravitas than you would find in a traditional network newscast.
Obviously, that approach had to be suspended temporarily after the September 11, 2001 atrocities. Prior to those horrifying events, the anchors would set up an offbeat story about a company that decided not to label its ice cream flavors, betting that shoppers would take a chance on random varieties. It was amusing to watch such stories while curled up on the couch with relatively new watchcats Rosie and Sammy.
During the first "World News Now" edition after the 9/11/01 disasters, the anchors, instead of being in the studio, were at Ground Zero, providing ongoing news coverage. Rosie, Sammy, and I watched the news, as I thought in the days and weeks following that infamous day, "Eventually, there will be a return to irreverence, but it won't be right away--nor should it be."
