Yesterday, Sam Donaldson attended a Texas AP Broadcasters Awards event, and sat down with journalists to discuss the business for a while. Nancy Martinez of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times was there, and wrote a short piece about Donaldson's comments to the group.

I wasn't aware that he was a storyteller of note, as Ms. Martinez points out, so that was an interesting tidbit for me... What was interesting was him stating that the "newsmagazines" on various channels don't do well for most of the season, and that "the only time these newsmagazines get any kind of ratings is when they do a freak show," in this case using a show on Michael Jackson that ABC's "Prime Time Live" did a few years back. He clarifies further with, "That's not a news program." I knew the shows didn't rate so well regularly, but it's a eye-opener to get a statement like this from a respected newsperson.