Journalist says future of TV news uncertain

VIRGINIA BEACH

After 22 years as a broadcast journalist, Erin Moriarty said she fears for the future of network newscasts.

Moriarty, a correspondent for "48 Hours" who has won nine Emmy awards, spoke Thursday to more than 150 women at the spring Women's Review luncheon. The Women's Review is part of the Central Business District Association.

She defended Katie Couric, the anchor of the CBS Evening News, and said more opportunities are opening to women in journalism. But she said television news is changing.

"Some people don't pay attention to the news at all," she said. "That worries me. It worries me a lot." She talked about increasing layoffs in the industry, the shuttering of news bureaus and the increasing move from newspapers and television to online news.

"Will there be anyone reading the news in the future?" she said.

She said she hopes the investigative nature of media will not be lost.

Linda Merrick, a legal administrator with McKenry, Dancigers, Dawson & Lake, said she was surprised by Moriarty's vision of the future.

"We were born and raised watching the three networks' news," she said.

The association's next speaker will be Marine Col. Adrienne K. Fraser Darling, who works in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. She will speak on May 21 at the Holiday Inn Executive Center.

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com