When news alone isn’t enough

WALTER CRONKITE’S reassurance that “that’s the way it is” wouldn’t cut it in the television news world of today, with so many other information sources at viewers’ fingertips.

So the old-school news divisions are embracing blogging in the hopes of engaging 21st century television watchers. Everyone from NBC anchor Brian Williams to Fox News host Greta Van Susteren now posts daily dispatches on their respective websites, offering inside glimpses of how their newscasts are produced.

This fall, Cronkite’s former network is taking it one step further: bringing in an outsider to blog about its inner workings.

Edited by veteran political journalist and media critic Vaughn Ververs, “Public Eye,” expected to debut on CBSNews.com in the coming days, is designed to provide a measure of transparency about the network’s news gathering. CBS executives hope the blog will help regain the trust of viewers who were disenchanted last year by the network’s broadcast of a controversial report about President Bush’s National Guard service. Since then, the network’s news division has been in rebuilding mode and pondering a remake of its third-place evening news program, now anchored temporarily by longtime Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer.

Ververs said he believes the blog will foster a better understanding of television news.

“So much of what’s out there now in terms of media criticism really stems from perceptions and assumptions people have that aren’t really rooted in anything,” said Ververs, who most recently edited the political website “The Hotline.”

He will work with two producers to compile text and video posts for the blog, which he plans to update multiple times a day. Ververs called the format “a work in progress” but said his entries will range from reports about editorial meetings to discussions about broader media issues, along with responses to questions from viewers.

He said he wants to provide dispassionate observations, not play the traditional watchdog role of an ombudsman.

“Everybody who works in this industry understands that the entire landscape is changing in a very fundamental way,” Ververs said. “Nobody really knows where it is going, but I think this is part of that change -- providing an understanding of how it works.”

As an employee of the digital media division, Ververs does not report to CBS News President Andrew Heyward. Still, Ververs will have to rely on the news division for access. So far, the staff has been supportive, he said.

“I think it’s just going to take time for everybody to adjust,” he said. “You can’t come in here every day and be seen as an apologist for CBS or the media, but we also can’t take a microscope every day and try to nit-pick things. Our challenge is to establish credibility over time by being fair, honest and accurate.”