Vargas/Woodruff: A “Real Partnership”

“The only successful network anchor pairing was the first, NBC’s Chet Huntley and David Brinkley,” Gail Shister notes this morning. She asks Connie Chung why her two-year stint with Dan Rather failed:

“I don’t know why it didn’t work,” she says. But because Vargas and Woodruff are starting out together, she adds that they “have the opportunity to kick off a coanchor team equally, and with equality, as a real partnership. It’s very difficult to join a work in progress.”

Also, Barbara Walters, who tried to co-anchor with Harry Reasoner on ABC in the late ’70s, “said she now views the whole saga as a blessing,” Reuters explains.

Speaking at a breakfast to honor Hollywood’s 100 most powerful female executives, she praised Vargas and Woodruff: “Over 25 years ago, I was vilified for being the first woman co-anchor. I think this is great.”