It appears another female television news journalist is flopping
when it comes to anchoring the nightly news. I've expressed my
displeasure on how much focus is given to looks when it comes
to women anchors before. But there is something much deeper
than that going on here. The viewers of broadcast nightly news
tend to be older. So perhaps they are just accustomed to having
a male with that Walter Cronkite type voice.
Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer do have different styles
than their male predecessors. They are more conversational
and less formal in their presentation. Perhaps nightly news
viewers aren't looking for conversational and less formal?
That's what morning news is for! Morning news anchors
want to make you feel like your drinking a morning cup
of coffee and having a conversation. Katie Couric and Diane
Sawyer were very successful in that format.
I don't think it's sexism (at least I don't have any evidence at this
moment) because I don't think someone like Matt Lauer
would be a good anchor for a nightly news program. But
maybe that's because I'm used to seeing him in the morning?
Perhaps the secret to success in nightly news is not to do
the morning news first. Brian Williams never anchored the
Today Show.