Peter Jennings isn't dead yet, and by all appearances, he doesn't want to be considered that way. So the Reuters announcement seems appropriate under the circumstances.

Now then, I was just trying to link to an ABC story at Google News, announcing Jennings had cancer. It read like his obituary, and I'm guessing it probably was, because it has now been pulled offline, and the link won't work.

This is the ABC announcement now.

Look, I admire Peter Jennings as a journalist, and I am sad to hear he has lung cancer. He and his family have my sympathy. But I don't know Peter Jennings and his family, or any of his colleagues, so it would be phony for me to say I am "deeply saddened" or some such thing, because I'm not. Reading the news gave me a moment's pause, and a pang for him. But it isn't cause for me to go on about it, because I don't know him personally.

As to lung cancer treatment and chemotherapy. The announcement that he will be receiving chemo means he has small cell lung cancer which is inoperable. Chemotherapy is still offered by some pulmonary specialists and oncologists, but fewer and fewer all the time. It is usually offered with the caveat that it won't cure the patient, but it may give them more time (though the caveat comes with the statement that there is no medical evidence that chemotherapy does extend the life of lung cancer patients with small cell lung cancer at all). It is usually offered to patients who insist that some form of treatment be offered. Which usually means they and/or their family haven't accepted their diagnosis.

Radiation therapy is usually offered to provide some pain relief as the tumor(s) grow larger. The national five-year survival rate after diagnosis of Lung Cancer is 11-14%.