THE GIRLS

Who do l listen to, who do I tune in ...?

Alexis Whit ( MSNBC Anchor) -- She's trustworthy, carefully wise, doesn't sell her personal opinions, but I don't like her hair. That's a serious flaw --it keeps me from listening to her. Why does she insist on looking like a Rapunzel, forcing us to wonder how old she is... when she isn't that old.

Erica Hill (CNN Anchor, American News Reporter) -- I liked her, trusted her instantly, and the more I see of her, the more I'm aware of her grownup womanliness -- even though I enjoy her girlish spirit, her making fun of the serious faced guy on CNN's "360." For a while they were so friendly that I thought "Mm something's going on." I don't think so. She's mentioned her husband -- she is an up front, out there person.

Barbara Walters -- She's never seemed to be a woman I can trust to say what she means, and do what she expresses that she wants to do. It's something about the look of her -- her clothes, hair, no visible wrinkles when she's broadcasting. (Only when she's caught in a candid shot at a party where the lighting isn't controlled.) Maybe because she has to stay younger looking than her real age -- she's the Queen, Number One, and that requires that we bow to her, curtsy, treat her with respect, admiration, adulation, and NOT think about what generation she belongs to.

On the plus side -- I remember the commercial she did for New York City -- "Barbara W. at an audition." It was funny, bravely uninhibited, so here's a "yay" for the Queen.

Christiane Amanpour (CNN International Correspondent) -- Top of the list woman. I don't think about who she is privately. Whenever she speaks I listen to what she's saying and absorb what she's conveying. That's a big compliment from me with my roving imagination, that I never wondered about her husband, children, family, age, clothes, predilections -- none of that personal stuff. I just respect her words, and trust her eyes, her mind. her interpretation of what she's telling us about.

Heidi Collins ( CNN Anchor, Weekdays) -- I don't sense the person, woman, girl, lady. She's not boring ... well, maybe she is ... I don't retain a sense of anything important, or unimportant when she gives us the news.

Contessa Brewer (MSNBC Anchor, American News ) -- She talkative, opinionated, spunky, aggressive, But it's annoying, that she talks so much and is so full of her own ideas, her own conclusions -- it seems as if we're getting Contessa's view, not a reporter' view. I wouldn't choose a Contessa to inform me about anything objectively. Still, she's everywhere. I feel she's pushing, building, working hard to make herself a major television personality. I'm not rooting for that.

Diane Sawyer ( ABC "PrimeTime Live") -- I rarely watch, though I feel I should. Perhaps it's because of JC's and my socializing with her husband, Mike Nichols. Watching her, I remember the conversations, excursions with Mike on an enormous rented boat, (fun times gone by) instead of paying attention to the news.

Katie Couric (CBS Evening News) -- I can't watch her show. Too much was done to sell her, and the sell is all I see and hear when I briefly tune her in.

Greta Van Susteren (Fox News, host of "On the Record") -- I stopped watching during the presidential campaign, though I liked her, and trusted her, But the slant of her politics and her employer's politics were unacceptable to me. And I can't go back. The few shows I happened to see had anti-Obama comments that felt very wrong.

Nora O'Donnell (MSNBC Contributing Correspondent) -- Her face, her eyes her energy, her beauty ... I retain an impression of liking her, listening, instinctively trusting, never turning away. Her presence during the election I certainly remember, but nothing vivid, remains. She's a beautiful woman, at the height of her powers.

Campbell Brown (CNN Prime Time Anchor) -- She's on at a time when I'm usually busy. And JC doesn't enjoy watching her jump in with answers to the questions that she's asking her guests.

The only women I go out of my way to hear are Andrea Mitchell, and Rachel Maddow.

I hesitate -- posting these words, uttered (on paper) quickly, improvisationally by me ... and me naively trusting myself. (Hey, if you don't trust yourself you can't write!)

Okay. What I'm saying here, is what I'd say to JC if we were discussing the news.