Fox's "Anchorwoman" reality show debuts Wednesday night. the show features former bikini model Lauren Jones in a month-long stint on the anchor desk at a small Texas station.
Critics say the show mocks journalism. But the small station's general manager defends his shop:
KYTX general manager Phil Hurley says the protests amount to schoolmarmish hand-wringing. “Entertainment and journalism have gone together for years,” he says. “Reporters spend a whole day reporting on Paris Hilton leaving her house, and they're criticizing me? I'm a little lost as to what the problem is.”
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6470003.html?industryid=47169
There's no doubt Jones isn't the first beauty queen to break into the news business, but most others have also had college training. And none have done the reality show bit. Still, it's hard to argue that TV news isn't largely driven by looks.
Some insiders say Jones actually was good on the desk...good enough that the station offered her a permanent job. She's now in talks with some other stations in larger markets.
"Look at all the women you see in broadcast journalism. A great many of them come from untraditional broadcast news backgrounds," Jones says.
So, for me, I've just been laughing the criticism off, and wondering what we're doing here that hasn't been done before."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08202007/tv/jones_for_news_tv_don_kaplan.htmSo what do you think? Is Jones making a mockery of broadcast journalism? Or does she deserve a chance to prove her worth? Post your comments.
5 comments:
FOX didn't have much stake in the show. They already canceled it after one show. Didn't look interesting to me so I didn't watch.
Episodes will be available online, but I wonder if the Texas station will keep her around. She might have most professional journalists cursing up and down the aisles, but it's still a great marketing strategy.
I didn't watch the show and I probably won't take the time to watch online. I can appreciate that the Texas station is looking for ways to boost ratings, but is that the best way to do it? It seems to send the message that a former model could not handle a "real" job and also that the news isn't worth watching without an entertaining twist.
It's nice to know that I have to attend a four year university and spend thousands of dollars to get a degree to even have a chance to get a TV anchor job while this model gets a chance just cause she looks good! Definately not watching.
Fox to me in my opinion is not good to me, I hated watching anything on Fox, besides all they do is cancel shows, and now that is all they are good for.
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