Stephen Banker, a former CBS and CBC reporter, discusses the "changes in broadcast journalism since [the class of 1955] graduated half a century ago." To show what TV news was like back then, he presents a kinescope of NBC's Plymouth News Caravan of April 24, 1955, anchored by John Cameron Swayze. That was just a few weeks before 1955ers "emerged from the academic cocoon."

Mr. Banker observes that the recent changes in network anchors, the advent of cable news and the refinement of technology have set the stage for profound substantive changes. But we are in some ways reverting to the ethos of the 1950s, he says -- with the integration of advertisements into standard broadcasting and the reduction in foreign reports because of budget constraints. He cites testimony that the networks are using tape footage from foreign countries without knowing their source.

Mr. Banker traces present difficulties to the advent of 60 Minutes' financial success in the late '60s, which meant that news was no longer the networks' "proud lost leader." He attributes the nervousness of today's news pacing to the ubiquitous remote control device. Today, the typical sound bite has shrunk from 90 seconds, as demonstrated in the 1955 footage, to just 9 or 10 seconds even though the evening news programs have doubled in length.

Mr. Banker asserts that the "the idea of telling the audience up front what we know -- and then shutting up -- is gone." He concludes, "As a traditional reporter, I am not inclined to make predictions, but the trends are clear."