Emily Rooney, who is celebrating her 20th year hosting Beat the Press on WGBH, says the biggest change she's witnessed over that time period has been in the news-gathering business itself.

In television, the network and local news shows have narrowed their focus and range. Locally, she says, the focus increasingly is on traffic, weather, and "two-bit crime coverage. Anchors, once known by their first names, are now barely known at all."

"Everything looks exactly the same and they've got these fungible anchors that all look the same," she says on The Codcast.