Elizabeth Vargas was robbed.....

From the "it wasn't her fault" department......

Elizabeth Vargas begins co-anchoring ABC's World News Tonight with Bob Woodruff looking to begin a new era at the network, post-the tragic death of Peter Jennings.

GMA (Good Morning America) was so close to taking over "Today", ABC didn't want to mess with the Charlie/Diane duo on that program. Conventional thinking had one of them moving to WNT. ABC thought differently, and in my view, boldly.

Let's give ABC a break on a major point here.....

.....I'm sure planning of some sort was underway concerning "grooming" Jennings' replacement (as NBC did with Brian Williams) but A) NBC has a cable news network, where plenty of grooming can take place (Brian used to do an hour nightly newscast at 9pm ET about a decade ago). And B) Jennings' sudden illness caught everyone off guard.

So, the "bench" as it were wasn't intact like NBC (though you could argue there was no bench, but a coronation at 30 Rock).

Then the following......

1) Bob Woodruff is seriously injured by a bomb in Iraq, immediately ending the plans for one anchor to travel, the other to stay at the desk.

2) Vargas announces her pregnancy; a wonderful event at age 42.

3) Within the past few weeks; CBS overtook ABC in evening news ratings.


You're the president of ABC News-----what do you do?


Charles Gibson heads to WNT; the GMA speculation begins. Meanwhile......the network press release talks of Elizabeth Vargas needing to significantly cut back on her duties according to her doctor, so she'll come back on 20/20 and news specials. There are other aspects of the "public announcement" of Charlie in, Liz out.

My bottom line:

Elizabeth Vargas got robbed. If she's not pregnant today, they wouldn't have made this change....yet. The pregnancy was the perfect "out" for ABC to rearrange their talking head lineup.

Some women's groups have loudly protested; I checked Concerned Women For America's website, and not a word. That's a shame. Women on the Christian Right should be upset with this, too.

I'm upset and I'm male!!!!

So, in less than a year, the bedrock of your employer dies while you're heading out west to be with your husband, who was shot. Months later, you and a partner become co-anchors. Your partner suffers life-threatening injuries in Iraq. You discover you're pregnant. Then, I suspect, the sharks began to circle, wanting to get a second chance to put a "known" face on the broadcast, and stuff-shirts (many of them white males, I suspect) realize the pregnancy plays to their advantage.

Elizabeth is very gracious about it all, which impresses me tremendously, when just a few years ago, people in the biz were yelling about Vargas' ego.

With Katie going to CBS after tomorrow, and Charlie coming in for ABC, I hope for simply one thing.

May Elizabeth and Marc have a beautiful, happy, and healthy baby.

Then we'll deal with my wishes for her career.