Our word for today

unc·tu·ous
adj.

1. Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness: "the unctuous, complacent court composer who is consumed with envy and self-loathing" (Rhoda Koenig).
2. Having the quality or characteristics of oil or ointment; slippery.

3. Containing or composed of oil or fat.

4. Abundant in organic materials; soft and rich: unctuous soil.

5. Diane Sawyer, television news personality, who is about to take over as anchor of the ABC Nightly News upon the retirement of Charles Gibson at the end of this year.

This leaves only one network news program, NBC and its host Brian Williams, which hasn’t gone over completely to a soft-news orientation. Props (what the hell does that mean, anyway?) to Katie Couric for what passed as tough questions in her interview with Sarah Palin when other networks were playing paddy cake, but that was the exception for Couric. Asking Palin to "name one" newspaper or magazine she read regularly (she couldn't) earned Couric the enmity of the right, but didn't qualify her as a great journalist.

Sawyer seems to want to conclude every interview with a nice big hug, and her choice to anchor at ABC signals the near death of television news in favor of info-tainment. Along with the near death of daily newspapers, it all seems to signal the end of responsible journalism. The thought of Fox News and the the internet as our only remaining sources of information is truly frightening.

Of interest is today’s column by Michael Gerson, available here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/24/AR2009092403932.html?wpisrc=newsletter