Did you know that being married is like being nibbled to death by a duck?

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Talking Heads

Jonah Goldberg takes an interesting look at the whole Katie Couric/CBS News thing.

Consider how the respected television analyst Andrew Tyndall defines the job of
news anchor. The job has two parts, he told the Washington Post. First, they
have to read the TelePrompTer. The second part involves "sitting behind the desk
when there's a crisis."

I hate to criticize something I've never done, but at the same time, I've wondered this very same thing for years. How hard could it really be?

Consider Barbara Walters. In the '70s and '80s, it was drummed into us that she
was the Susan B. Anthony of American journalism. Even today, whenever her bona
fides as a serious journalist are questioned, she gets her hackles up and plays
the angered feminist. Then she returns to asking Hollywood movie stars what kind
of tree they would be if they could be a tree and hosting that paragon of Cafe
Vienna Moment journalism, The View.

Ha. That's good stuff. Read the whole thing, it isn't very long.

5 comments:

Mrs. Wakeandahalf said...

Yeah, but you have to be careful reading the teleprompter... what if someone put a bad word in? :)

Mr. Twisted said...

"I'm Ron Burgundy?"

Alessandra said...

If there was one time when I felt like throwing a brick at Barbara Walters was when she interviewed Monica Lewinski, and Barbara showed herself to be really disgusting, she had this parasitical leech-like attitude during the whole interview.

Alessandra said...

I am always amazed at the talent that some of these teleprompter journalists who work in pairs have. Writing talent? No. Narration talent? Nope. It's that expensive talent that probably got them the job, the talent for saying cutsey things no matter what the news is about, usually before they "wrap up." There is a tornado, they say a little cutsey thing, there is politician in town, they say a little joke, there was a car-wreck, another little cutsey advice.

Alessandra said...

I need to rack my brain to come up with these cutsey things in small talk conversation, it's like once a month, it happens!!! LOLOL