"No matter what, the American people deserve a thoughtful and balanced account of what has happened in their world during the last 24 hours," veteran newsman Roger Mudd tells Philadelphia's The Bulletin. "I devoutly hope that the evening news will never disappear from our lives."

Mudd, who recently turned 80, was in the Keystone State to promote his first book, The Place To Be: Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News. Mudd spent more than two decades at CBS News before moving over to NBC News, and eventually to PBS and The History Channel.

Mudd tells The Bulletin's Sally Friedman that "quality has dropped immeasurably" in the television news world of today.

It's in stark contrast, he says, to the era referenced in his book title, the Glory Days. "Back then," he explains, "we told the story from the beginning. There was no walking around and talking, no flapping of hands. There was just strong reporting... and I wish that era would return."