Talking news

NEWSCASTS formerly featured one seasoned newsman. Next it added a guest. Then to be ecumenical, one from every race, color and prejudice. Today it’s a chorusline of contributors. Some get a few bucks, some improve a lifestyle with face time. But none actually know. They only “think.” None were any- where, they “were told.” None report. They “heard.”

Also: Jake Tapper? Lenin talked less about Russia than he does.

THURSDAY 8:45 p.m. Japanese restaurant 80th and 81st St., east side of Amsterdam. Standing atop a light-colored van. A guy. In shorts. Singing loudly. In the rain. People staring. An NYPD police car rumbles past. Doesn’t look. Doesn’t stop. Only in New York, kids, only in New York.