The friend, who worked in the movie biz as a publicist made a point about why I was seeing Nicole Kidman so much.
"When you're an actress in Hollywood nearing 40, you do as many movies as you can because after that, they, (movie people), regard a lot of women past 40 as 'donno.'" "Are you kidding me?", I asked incredulously. He wasn't. Yes, even the stunning Nicole Kidman is subject to the law of time and body. Dang!
Which brings me to my point. On a less grander scale, but essentially the same idea. TV women reporters, anchors, the like, past 40 and 50 are becoming rarities. It's the new rule. It's especially evident in local TV. They like 'em young, blond, (usually), eager, and mostly the willingness to work on the dime. Can you just fathom all of that for a moment.
Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer are some of the exceptions because they're Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer. Inez Sainz, (pictured above), is also Inez Sainz, (30ish, hot, Latina, bingo!)
Just go to any market and the majority of air talent are late-20/30ish-something women reporters, (and a few anchors too), who have become the new business model. Men are not as affected, but they too are under the microscope. Isn't a lovely business?
It's getting to the point that anybody over 50, advertisers regard as dirt. Pass 54 you might as well go to the Nevada desert and fade away. Bye bye. The same is applied to TV news people.
This is nothing new just as it's not a huge surprise that younger women in the TV biz are by and large making it difficult for the rest, or have you seen Fox News staple of air talent? Erin Burnett on CNN. A fine business reporter--it doesn't hurt she's about 33 too. For every Christianne Amanpour and Candy Crowley, and Rita Williams, for that matter, there's a Dana Bash. Which is not to bash Dash, but I think you get my point. Dana Bash? OK, she was the first I thought of, excuse me, there's more.
Pardon me while I go watch my Susan Sarrandon and Julia Roberts movie.
**Tips/E-Mail: Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com
*Follow me on Twitter
There are younger women on TV now, but there have always been younger women on TV. Wendy Tokuda, Rita Williams, Linda Yee, Belva Davis and many of the other great reporters started working in this market in their 20's & 30's. The difference is, those young women stuck around and we were able to witness their growth. Most of the 20 & 30 somethings today will move to different markets or burn out.
ReplyDeleteYep,it looks like Nicole's roles have been replaced by Charlize Theron..Charlie girl is in everything now.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to print. Why do you think there are so many typos in The Chron, Merc, even The New York Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, and virtually EVERY single TV "news" site? Either that, or they have senile copyeditors. It is clear that many of today's journalists do not know how to spell, nor are they up on their grammar, not to mention AP Style, where it is supposed to be used, that is. Oh, I forgot the dismal Wall Street Journal. Should be used in a J-101 course to illustrate the dangers of typos.
ReplyDeleteTwo notable male exceptions to the sideline rule are Craig Sager and Jim Gray. Give credit to those networks for not going the blond bimbo route. Also Erin Burnett suuucks! Her cutesy delivery and gopher nostrils are annoying and the ratings prove it
ReplyDeleteI agree on Erin Burnett. I don't think she's a good Reporter or Anchor at all. She does no homework. She just repeats the right wing talking points. And believes everything her friends on Wall Street tell her without checking the facts. CNN is making a big mistake trying to become Fox light with her and like said above the ratings do prove it.
DeleteRight on-I so much dislike and refuse to watch Erin Burnett!
DeleteI'm trying to think of a channel or network that has more than one woman over 50 on-air. Candy Crowley, Greta, Andrea Williams, Sawyer, Stahl, Ifill...
ReplyDeleteBut in sports, the people we see week after week, are people we've seen for 20 years...Costas, Michaels, Bradshaw, Berman, Nance, McCarver, Ditka
Leslie Stahl in her 70's still looks hot. She still has doe eyes,wears skirts above the knee. And you ever see her walk?..she has a real come hither walk.
DeleteI don't think Nicole Kidman serves as a good role model. She is a walking plastic surgery clinic. I'll bet a very large share of her income goes to the docs.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Candy Crowley, CNN has Gloria Borger and Jeanne Moos and Christiane Amanpour, all over 50. I'm sure there are more.
ReplyDeleteCNN aims to be a serious network, unlike Fox which hires eye candy to recite right-wing talking points from Roger Ailes' script.
By the way, Dana Bash is 40.
Eye candy, yea look at some of the resumes of that eye candy, moron. Law backgrounds, fucking CNN has fewer people watching it than Home Shopping Network. It's a joke, Anderson Cooper is a serious journalist? Since when? The Breck Boy makes Geraldo Rivera come across like Ed Murrow.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why news is a beauty contest is because blogs like this one, that reflect how people (let's be honest - men) look at the news, treat female news and sportscaster as sides of meat. Posting the top female hotties in news is demeaning to news reporting as it is to the women. Constantly posting how great a woman news reporter looks after a comment about her ability is immature, fifth grade bullcrap. The utterly stupid commentary about Lara Logan getting raped because she is pretty (and had no business reporting on the Egyptian uprising) was shockingly nineteenth century. I suppose Anderson Cooper got beat up in Egypt because he's a hottie too? When it comes to issues that in any way touch on gender, you can always count on a segment of the male population to be utter pigs and it seems that segment always have the biggest and loudest mouths. Until this blog came along, I really didn't understand how difficult it must be to work in news with the kind of people represented in this blog. I wonder how many times in 35 years Rita Williams had to tell some knuckle dragger to go straight to hell.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that many males see the female newscasters as objects. However, there's no doubt many of the female reporters and news readers are also cultivating their physical beauty as a way to advance their careers. Both sides are guilty.
DeleteAnonymous June 6, 2012 at 10:14 AM:
Deletei would luv to shake ur hand. ya knocked that one outta the park. SO true and MANY men recognize eXactly what u're saying, but many of them/us will never admit it.......b/c it "feels bad" to take rightful ownership.
Watch Monday nights Tonight Show on Hulu...and Jay has a montage of FOX news woman EVERY one of them is young and blond and curvy.
ReplyDeleteIts like country music..same thing. No more Loretta Lynns..all look like Carrie Underwood.
If your a woman..why wouldn't you dye your hair blond?..it gets you the better job,mate(all the pro and rich athletes are married to blond),.. life.
Jean Enerson in Seattle at King5 is an icon and one of those rare older women who has a lot of power in her market share.
ReplyDeleteAm I wrong or is it the 50 and over baby boomers that still listen to radio and watch TV...I thought the youngsters watched u tube for their news. So get rid of all the folks the 50ish crowd loves and tube your ratings....very smart!
ReplyDeleteThe reason that I stopped watching CNN is Gloria Borger,what a hag!
ReplyDeleteHow on earth did she get that gig in the first place? Who's hiring these people? I'm a moderate Democrat who watches several news networks, mostly CNN, and I don't understand why they keep people like the stammering, stuttering, zero personality, Wolf Blitzer! Also the chattering chipmunk, Soledad O'Brien; the beautiful but flat-personality Brook Baldwin; Ashleigh Banfield? c'mon!! CNN's money could do a lot better!
Delete