Katie Couric

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

I've met a couple fox news guys and Anderson Cooper, but never any network people. Me saying they're not smart enough to understand the stories they report is most likely a stretch, but I still think its style over substance.

Please remember that even with names like "managing editor," the anchors don't really format the shows.

Frankly, I think most (not all) of the cable net anchors are lightweights -- just readers. That's not been true of any of the major network anchors I've worked with. They are remarkably bright and well informed people.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Please remember that even with names like "managing editor," the anchors don't really format the shows.

Frankly, I think most (not all) of the cable net anchors are lightweights -- just readers. That's not been true of any of the major network anchors I've worked with. They are remarkably bright and well informed people.

So they write the copy?

They do most of the fact checking and investigation on their own?

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

So they write the copy?

They do most of the fact checking and investigation on their own?

I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Which "they, and what copy?"

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Which "they, and what copy?"

I think he means that the network news anchors write their own copy and do the fact-checking and investigation on their own. He's asking if that is the case (which I don't believe it is, aren't there writers and researchers who do all of that?).

My journalistic experience is in print, so I'm not much help in this thread. The only experience I have with the inner workings of news is at ESPN, where the SportsCenter anchors write most of their own copy and do a lot of their own research.

[Drolefille]

I don't know about the big guys, but locally, it really depends on the anchors. Some are reporters at heart, and act like it, and some are just good at reading a teleprompter and looking concerned.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

some are just good at reading a teleprompter and looking concerned.

This means you, Erica Bryant. Especially the looking concerned part.

[Drolefille]

"There are stingrays on display in a local mall in Tennessee. Are they dangerous? Could a child die? News at 11" *CONCERNED FACE*

/seriously people it was a freak accident!

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Which "they, and what copy?"

ksigkid pretty much summed it up - I want to know the extent to which the network anchors do the work of a reporter.

How much journalism do they do on an average day?

[shinerbock]

On a side note, Ann Coulter wrote a great article yesterday about the Valerie Plame Non-Affair. It talks a little about how the media portrayed the "scandal" and how it actually turned out. www.anncoulter.com

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

ksigkid pretty much summed it up - I want to know the extent to which the network anchors do the work of a reporter.

How much journalism do they do on an average day?

Honestly, it depends on the day. Most of the network anchors I've met and worked with do write their own copy -- or at least edit it -- if they're not traveling or whatever.

If you are asking if they check the details of all of the stories, I'd say that would be in impossible task, because many of those stories are fed in at the last minute. A news organization, whether broadcast or print, has to put some amount of trust in its reporters. That's what they do.

Most of them (the anchors) have an almost insatiable curiousity and encyclopedic memory. You see that during the "breaking news" times like 9/11 or earthquakes or other disasters. I can't think of any of the network (I'm talking broadcast, not cable or local) anchors who don't have extensive reporting and writing credentials prior to landing in the anchor chair.

You just can't imagine how difficult it is to hold things together while still communicating effectively in those situations.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Honestly, it depends on the day. Most of the network anchors I've met and worked with do write their own copy -- or at least edit it -- if they're not traveling or whatever.

To me, this is the same as saying "very little actual journalism, although they do edit other peoples' work to fit their own on-air style."

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

If you are asking if they check the details of all of the stories, I'd say that would be in impossible task, because many of those stories are fed in at the last minute. A news organization, whether broadcast or print, has to put some amount of trust in its reporters. That's what they do.

Agreed, but again - the trust is in someone 'behind the scenes' . . .

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Most of them (the anchors) have an almost insatiable curiousity and encyclopedic memory. You see that during the "breaking news" times like 9/11 or earthquakes or other disasters. I can't think of any of the network (I'm talking broadcast, not cable or local) anchors who don't have extensive reporting and writing credentials prior to landing in the anchor chair.

I'm not impressed by this, because that's their job.

My entire contention here is that network news anchors are very impressive at what they do - but what they do is far removed from journalism, and much closer to strict entertainment (such as acting, directing, etc - all arts in their own right).

Put another way - we don't laud the guys who write Cliff's Notes for being great writers, even though they perform a very useful service and we do laud their success.

I'm not claiming network anchors aren't intelligent, driven, etc - obviously there are so few of them in the world that it is an elite self-selecting group. I respect that a ton - just as I can respect the Cliff's Notes empire for recognizing a niche, capitalizing and driving a truckload of money home.

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

You just can't imagine how difficult it is to hold things together while still communicating effectively in those situations.

I also can't imagine how difficult it is to invent a prosthetic vein, but someone did it. I feel like one is more important than the other.

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

I also can't imagine how difficult it is to invent a prosthetic vein, but someone did it. I feel like one is more important than the other.

I absolutely agree, but that doesn't mean that news anchors are second class citizens.

If anchors were super people, why would we need reporters, writers, producers and the rest of the major news organizations?

I'm not sure anyone could meet your standards.