Thanks to Kevin Fisher for chastising Raycom and WIS- TV for the rude and impolitic way they treated a class act like David Stanton. I am just one of David's former colleagues who thinks he deserved to be treated with at least a smattering of the professionalism he practiced every day.

Kevin is exactly right. They should have given David 30 days notice, announced his retirement, put together a retrospective, and added the numerous pats on the back he deserved. Instead they chose the low road, a clearly bad decision made by the empty suit at Raycom who had absolutely no feel for the community that its station would seek to serve.

Thanks, too, Kevin, for your look at the old days. It is sad to watch the demise of both print and broadcast journalism. Crime news, fluff stories, and "breathless weather updates" have indeed turned a once- proud profession into News Lite. "Back in the day" we were relentlessly on the story instead of always happily being "on your side."

I am proud to have been a member of the WIS- TV news team during a few of those glory years and am proud to have worked with David Stanton, Ed Carter, and Susan Audé- Fisher. News Director Scott Parks and General Manager Dixon Lovvorn were terrific newsmen in those heady days of Cosmos Broadcasting when Jack Kuenzie, Lou Fontana, and many others broke stories and often drove the state and local political agenda.

In those days WIS- TV offered the most- watched television news show in S.C. People watched because Channel 10 was committed to quality journalism and for hard- hitting stories that kept politicians and public figures accountable.

I came to WIS- TV in 1988 as a former State newspaper political writer. I followed bow- tied Charlie Keyes as 10's political broadcaster and commentator, and proudly continued his Political Parade commentary for nearly three years. Channel 10 graciously put aside the normal print- broadcast friction, helped me through the rough spots, and turned a print guy into a passably fair TV guy who helped make waves.

David Stanton was always a good friend and a true professional. I was in good hands whenever I shared the news desk with him for a live story, and I could always count on him for good advice when I needed it on a story.

This letter is my way of saying thanks and best wishes. And a Bah Humbug to Raycom. Here's hoping that empty suit gets coal in his/her stocking.