Westin’s Backtracking Is “Astonishing”

David Westin continues to believe in “the two-anchor format for the right people at the right time” and will seek to try it again “with a new generation,” today’s Los Angeles Times says.

“I believed Elizabeth and Bob were the right people at the right time,” he added. “Unfortunately, some insurgents in Iraq had a different idea.”

An e-mailer writes: “The backtracking going on here is astonishing especially from Westin and Vargas. Don’t they understand they look like fools when they tell the press one thing in December (ie. 2 anchor formats, going to Iraq) and then do a 180 in May, that they have zero credibility? The only person in the NYT story who actually stepped up to the plate was Jon Banner. For christ sake, let him run the news division because if this whole episode doesn’t underscore the need for Westin to be shown the door, I can’t imagine what would.”

> Jon Banner in today’s NYT: “Obviously we have to scale back on what we’re doing.”