The news media lost one of its shining stars this weekend with the passing of Peter Jennings.

A newsman for decades, Jennings succumbed to lung cancer after a lifetime of smoking took its toll.

From his early days hiding in the athletes’ dorms at the Munich Olympics in 1972 to cover the Israeli hostage crisis to his marathon 60 hours of on-air commentary the week of Sept. 11, 2001, Jennings demonstrated a poise that is lacking in many of today’s news-as-entertainment shows.

For years, Jennings anchored the news desk at ABC, along with NBC counterpart Tom Brokaw and CBS’ Dan Rather. The three reigned over network news for more than a decade, until the advent of cable news networks made the traditional one-hour nightly news nearly obsolete.

Although the new generation seemingly wants their news in 30-second soundbites, Jennings and his contemporaries still ruled the airwaves for the older generation, who liked having their news presented in a thought-provoking manner rather than as a commercial.

Jennings was criticized at times for his personal political leanings. Despite his often open criticisms of government, his news delivery was always intelligent, spurring discussion among his viewers — a deliberate attempt to get more Americans engaged in the political process.

With traditional network news slowly disappearing in favor of flashier MTV-style news, older generations who still appreciated a sincere and articulate delivery of their daily news will miss Jennings.