TV News Review

Not so long ago I heard a Fox News anchor congratulate one of the Fox reporters on their promotion to anchor. By their words and their tone, they almost immediately realized they had just insulted all of the hardworking reporters at Fox. The next few moments of them trying to do damage control was uncomfortable to watch.

This aggravated me. We (cable news fans) fawn over the anchors and largely ignore the reporters. Is news anchor a higher position than a reporter such as Richard Engel, Kimberly Dozier, Jane Aarf, Greg Palkot, or Courtney Kealey reporting from the war zone in Iraq? The definition of a journalist is “someone who collects and edits news for presentation through the media”. The reporters, producers, and camera crews out in the field are the true journalist. They have to collect and edit the news for presentation. Yet, we see them as not quite good enough to be an anchor.

I don’t mean to take anything away from the anchors. Their job isn’t easy. I’d just like to see the reporters get a little more of the spotlight. They work hard for their money and based upon the comment by the Fox News anchor, it’s not as much as the anchor who’s sitting safely in the studio introducing them.