Stone Phillips says goodbye...

I planned on making my Pick of the Week post my last before I officially go on vacation. But after watching tonight’s “Dateline NBC,” I had to write just one more.

If you missed it, NBC aired “Stone Phillips: 15 Years of Dateline,” a retrospective of interviews by “Dateline” host Stone Phillips. The episode was his last edition of “Dateline.”

Phillips is a victim of the budget cuts at NBC News. Just as they did earlier with John Seigenthaler, NBC decided not to renew Phillips’ contract and go with anchors who could do multiple jobs. Ann Curry from “Today” will continue as the show’s host.

Since his departure will save the network $7 million a year and “Dateline” is scheduled to only air on Saturdays next season, it does make financial sense. But it is a shame to see such a network fixture go.

Though it was not shown during the hour-long special, the Stone Phillips interview I will always remember was when he interviewed Tom Brokaw after the anthrax scare following 9/11. I’ll never forget watching my hero Brokaw break down in tears of anger that someone had threatened the life of people he cared about. He wasn’t the only one who broke down in tears that day…

It’s important to give credit to NBC for allowing Phillips the chance to properly say goodbye to the audience. You can even leave messages on the “Dateline” website at http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/22/200003.aspx. And credit should be given to Phillips for handling his departure with such class.

In his goodbye, Phillips quoted a football coach he had recently interviewed who told his players that no matter what happened on or off the field, the most important play was the next play. What that play is for Phillips remains to be seen.

Whatever it is, I wish him the best of luck.

And with that, I’m officially on vacation. I’ll catch you all next week…