Zooming in on Brian Williams: "Brian Williams is … succeeding Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News, a historic network changing of the guard that will occur Dec. 2."

"'It's the ultimate subjective business,' says Williams, 45. 'We put ourselves on the line and say, 'Please invite us into your home,' and everyone is free to have at it. That's one of the great things about a democracy. People are completely entitled to their opinions, and I go home after the broadcast and go to sleep at night. My wife and children seem to like me quite a bit, and as long as that is true—people find this amazing—I'm really OK.'"

"After spending much of the past year on the road, Williams says, his game plan as anchor of the No. 1-rated U.S. newscast is simple.

"'I've got to get out a lot,' he says. 'The New York-Washington axis can be a journalist's worst enemy. Stories have a funny way of sneaking up on you, and the American people have a funny way of deciding what their reality is. You've got to spend a night in Dayton and Toledo and Cincinnati and Denver and in the middle of Kansas.'"