At WKRN-TV in Nashville, just about everybody blogs, including morning anchor Heather Orne and her husband, Prime Time anchor Neil Orne. Neil was one of the first bloggers at the station, and Heather joined him just a few months later.

Heather is nine months pregnant, and they’ve been using their blogs to let viewers in on the progress of her pregnancy. Page views, as you can imagine, have skyrocketed.

On Wednesday, Heather was involved in a little fender bender, and it scared the crap out of everybody, including the driver of the other car. You see, he’s a fan and has been following Heather’s condition.

Neil posted a picture of the two cars stuck together. Here is Heather’s blog.

Do yourself a favor and read the comments. Then ask yourself why your anchors aren’t blogging.

I was at lunch today with friends from WKRN-TV, and the conversation ultimately turned to the death of Ed Bradley. People were complaining about the over-the-top, lead story coverage, and how certain anchors and friends were all weepy on-the-air. While grieving is understandable, there was consensus that this was a bit much. I mean, the guy was an anchor, not the Pope.

Perhaps we’re weeping for more than just the loss of a person. Maybe that with the passing of each of these anchors, we’re reminded of our own mortality and, more significantly, of the period in history that’s closing. Sensing the approach of your own death is one thing, but the loss of a whole way of life?

Television news of the sort that produced the big name anchors and the local celebrities of today is slowly headed into the sunset. Like the photograph in Back To The Future, the image of an era that dominated my own life is fading, but unlike the movie, there’s nothing we can do to stop it.

While I’m certainly optimistic and upbeat about the opportunities that lie before us, Bradley’s death does give me pause. The tears for Ed Bradley are, in part, tears for all of us.