Memo to ABC: Retire Diane Sawyer.....Please!

[Mark Giardina]

ABC news has a great team of reporters, which is the reason I watch that network. However I can no longer tolerate Diane Sawyer with her personal comments after each story airs.

Ms. Sawyer might be a very nice person off-camera, but she comes across as being so insincere, or worse yet, a poor actress. I wish she would take a hint from Charlie Gibson and just call it quits. She can return to California and live the "good life" with her multi-millionaire movie producer husband Mike Nichols

The network should promote either Dan Harris or David Muir as lead anchor. Both of them just report the news, minus the "insipid comments" that Sawyer feels she needs to add after each story.

 

[Markxxx]

To me Sawyer has always come across as smug or insincere. I like David Muir, but his youth works against him for a major network spot.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

I've liked David Muir since he was on the overnight show "World News Now". I agree that he's probably too young for the weekday slot, and Diane is not going anywhere.

I liked Charlie Gibson much better than Diane.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

An excellent anchor would be the one and only Kevin Newman, who also appeared on WNN.

But he's probably sour about any possible return to the U.S. network TV game after the way his brief stint on "Good Morning America" (with fellow ex-WNNer Lisa McRee) was handled.

Kevin has been anchor of "Global National" on the Global TV network in his native Canada, until recently. He stepped down to focus on other future projects.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Diane Sawyer isn't a journalist, she's an on-air celebrity; big difference.

The only reason Sawyer got the anchor job in the first place is because she has friends in high places at the ABC Network.

As for David Muir being too young; well isn't that the target audience the networks are going for? (25-54). I no longer fall into that age category, but I sure as hell would consider watching him than Diane Sawyer anchoring the news.

However, as pointed out by another poster, as long as ABC 's rating are doing well, Sawyer's position is secure.

 

[TheBigA]

The only reason Sawyer got the anchor job in the first place is because she has friends in high places at the ABC Network.

No, the only reason she got the anchor job in the first place is she has more anchoring experience than anyone else there. I find it interesting that she isn't getting any of the criticism that Katie Couric is getting, and she managed to keep the ratings Gibson got.

The comments she makes at the end of a story are common for all anchors, not just her. I feel they're wrong for ANY anchor to make. I suspect it's something coming from a consultant or executive, not Diane herself, because I see it on a lot of newscasts, especially local.

As far as her journalistic credentials, I think they're pretty secure. She is both a journalist and a celebrity, as many before her are.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

As for David Muir being too young; well isn't that the target audience the networks are going for? (25-54). I no longer fall into that age category, but I sure as hell would consider watching him than Diane Sawyer anchoring the news.

David's problem is that he looks younger than he is.

I fully agree with what you said, and I'm very much a fan of his work...but the evening news anchor position needs a little "gravitas", and David's still kinda young.

Then again, it's very easy to recognize that the salad days of the evening newscasts are long gone.

I'd put him in there. I'd put Kevin Newman in there.

It's not that I have anything against Diane.

 

[MattParker]

What journalism credentials???

America's Junior Miss?
Louisville TV weather girl?
Member of Nixon's staff? (That alone should disqualify her.) Helped lie to the White House press corps and then to the public by helping to ghost write Nixon's memoirs. Coached Tricky in lying to David Frost.
She be a lobbyist or doing political PR. Not impersonating a journalist.

Her main accomplishment is looking good while managing to be completely sexless.

 

[TheBigA]

What journalism credentials???

What qualifications do you need? Is there a journalism test one must pass? Should she have labored at UPI for a decade or worked for some newspaper? That's what they used to do.

She's a broadcast journalist. Her whole career has been broadcasting. Yes, she worked for Nixon, but lots of journalists worked in politics at one point. One quick example would be Chris Matthews, who was Tip O'Neil's political aide for years. That's how you learn the subject. Before she worked for Nixon, she was a TV reporter. One might say that should have disqualified her to work in the White House. Ron Nessen had similar issues. But it didn't stop him or her from working in the White House, and then returning to journalism. But Nessen and Matthews are men. No one questioned them.

I really hate it when people dredge up things like Junior Miss a disqualification for future work. Like saying someone isn't qualified to be anything more than what they did in high school. Like saying one should work in fast food their entire life because they took a part time job at McDonald's while going to college. There's no question that Diane Sawyer has gone a long way since growing up in Kentucky. Shirley Temple had to deal with a lot of the same crap when she was an ambassador. Same with Phyllis George. It was once tough for a woman to get started in a career. Beauty pageants can help get you noticed, get you that first interview. But to last as long as she has takes talent. A lot of men are threatened by a beautiful but smart woman. That can hinder a career. It's not easy to get a job at 60 Minutes. They don't hand that kind of thing out to any beauty queen who walks in the door.

 

[MattParker]

What qualifications do you need? Is there a journalism test one must pass? Should she have labored at UPI for a decade or worked for some newspaper? That's what they used to do.

Yes. And they should do it again. That when broadcast journalism had credibility, respect and even gravitas. It had an audience and the audience took it seriously.

Sean Connery said in The Untouchables: If you're afraid of getting a rotten apple, don't go to the barrel. Get it off the tree. If you want pretty faces, go to a beauty contest. If you want real reporters, writers and editors, go to a real newspaper. I've got a computer program that can take a text document and read it aloud. A few improvements and it can replace Diane, Katie and (NAB lobbyist) Brian.

You forgot to mention Stephanopoulos. Rent "Primary Colors." Stephanopoulos is played by Adrian Lester, who know plays a con artist on the BBC. Playing Stephanoulos must have been good preparation for his current role.

 

[TheBigA]

That when broadcast journalism had credibility, respect and even gravitas. It had an audience and the audience took it seriously.

That's why they did it. People like Hearst attacked the credibility of radio newscasters. So radio hired people from newspapers. I'd like to think we've advanced a bit since the 1920s. With all the broadcast journalism that's taught today in college (and didn't exist in the 1920s), it's not the problem it used to be. That's evidenced by the polls that say more people get their news from broadcasting now than newspapers.

I stand by what I said. If anyone had a problem with Sawyer's beauty pageant past, it should be restricted to the 1970s. Blame Don Hewitt for hiring her. After you've spent more time in news than anything else on your resume, that becomes your occupation. The rest is just prejudice. One shouldn't be disqualified for what you do by your appearance. Both Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings were dismissed as pretty boys when they got started. Especially Peter. That doesn't discount the quality of his work afterwards.

And yes I read Primary Colors. Look...the American public elected his boss President of the US. If that's OK, I think we shouldn't hold what he did as a young man against him. For myself, I wouldn't want to be judged or restricted today by anything I may have done when I was 18. So I won't do it to anyone else.

 

[MattParker]

Both Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings were dismissed as pretty boys when they got started. Especially Peter. That doesn't discount the quality of his work afterwards.

Peter was a pretty boy. ABC gave him the Evening News chair because of his looks and because they thought he'd attract younger viewers. It didn't work. Later in life, Peter admitted he wasn't qualified. To his credit, he went out and learned his craft. What he lacked in formal education he made up for with voracious reading. ABC pretty much exiled him to so minor posts but he took advantage of the experience. He went out of his way to give himself the kind of real-world reporting experience associated with UPI and Chicago's City News Bureau (both gone but not forgotten).

He didn't claim credentials as a "journalist" by reading TelePrompTers in ever larger markets. By doing celebrity chat and cooking demonstrations on morning TV. By blowing in at the last minute after real reporters, writers, editors and producers have done any actual news gathering. The kind of woman who enters beauty contests is not the kind cut out to be a reporter. And the more anyone makes a point of calling themselves a "journalist," the less likely they are to actually be one.

Don Hewitt liked to claim he had one foot in journalism and one in show business but the more successful 60 Minutes became, the more weight he put on the show biz foot. And with the premiere of the new Green Hornet movie this weekend, let us remember that the announcer-narrator of the Green Hornet radio program was ..... Mike Wallace.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

What I see here is a conversation that seems to be dominated by men who don't like a feminine anchor. What some of you are overlooking is that more than half the audience is made up of women. And the woman sitting across the table from me as we have dinner while watching Diane Sawyer is quite a fan of hers. And she hopes the time-table is: Diane keeps doing the news on ABC until the day David Muir is seen as mature enough to sit in that seat permanently.

I think I am married to a woman with great taste. ;D

 

[TheBigA]

The kind of woman who enters beauty contests is not the kind cut out to be a reporter.

Sorry but that comment just reeks of prejudice. A lot of women got started in business as a secretary. Some found their way to the highest echelons of management. And the men who resented them always brought up the fact that they had once been a secretary, as though that meant something. You use whatever advantage you have to do the job you choose to do. If that's a beauty contest, so be it. I'm not saying that some beauty contest veterans aren't lightweights. I'm sure some are. As I said, if she didn't have the qualifications, she would have fallen on her face a long time ago. The fact that she hasn't tells me she knows what she's doing. Just as someone who was born in some backwoods town with no formal education can go on to do great things. The only limitations people should have on their careers is their own knowledge, not the prejudices imposed on them by others.

 

[BRNout]

I don't think the issue is one of gender, it's more one of an anchor having that certain "gravitas" that a network news anchor should have. Diane is a little light and her age is showing in the manner in which she presents various stories. I'll give her this: she's a lot better than that obnoxious Katie Couric. And the ratings recognize that.

All that having been said, Sawyer is NOT the best anchor that ABC could have chosen for the job. That is the issue. Not some straw-man deal about gender bias. If anything, her gender HELPED her get that gig.

 

[TheBigA]

All that having been said, Sawyer is NOT the best anchor that ABC could have chosen for the job.

But she has the most experience. At least she got the chance. As far as "gravitas," there's a fine line between that and being stodgy. That's often the problem some newscasters fall into. There's been a redfining of the role of anchor in the last 25 years. They goal seems to be making them relatable and human. That's what leads to those post-story comments where this thread began. I find such comments unnecessary. And as I said, I think it's more a function of how she's being directed than doing something on her own.

 

[MattParker]

The kind of woman who enters beauty contests is not the kind cut out to be a reporter.

Sorry but that comment just reeks of prejudice. A lot of women got started in business as a secretary. Some found their way to the highest echelons of management. And the men who resented them always brought up the fact that they had once been a secretary, as though that meant something. You use whatever advantage you have to do the job you choose to do. If that's a beauty contest, so be it. I'm not saying that some beauty contest veterans aren't lightweights. I'm sure some are. As I said, if she didn't have the qualifications, she would have fallen on her face a long time ago. The fact that she hasn't tells me she knows what she's doing. Just as someone who was born in some backwoods town with no formal education can go on to do great things. The only limitations people should have on their careers is their own knowledge, not the prejudices imposed on them by others.

Prejudice is in the eye, ear or nose of the beholder. Maybe you have been watching "Mad Men" too much. The fact is people's past follows them - men and women. People make dismissive comments about men as being "jocks" or "used car salesmen" or some other type of work not highly respected. People are judged by their past.

What kind of girl enters beauty contests? What does that say about her? Same applies to the cheerleader in contrast to the member of the debate team. The football player versus the student council president. And what kind of person goes to work for Tricky Dick? What does that say about her?

The advantage to being a member of a designated affirmative action entitlement victim group is the ability to deflect any question or criticism - no matter how valid - by playing the "prejudice" card. I've worked with women in this business who studied hard, worked hard, took anything thrown at them and did their best without complaint at whatever came their way. I've also worked with women who got jobs for which they were not qualified, at which they did not bother to work especially hard and who went in and flirted with the boss, shed tears or both any time they wanted something or did not get their way. I personally respected the former, not the latter. But I was amazed at how many co-workers heaped gushing and undeserved praise on the latter and spoke contemptuously of the former. Now who is prejudiced in this picture?

Using this logic, and setting political views aside, I'm much rather see Hillary in high office than Palin (Miss Congeniality).

 

[TheBigA]

Maybe you have been watching "Mad Men" too much. The fact is people's past follows them - men and women. People make dismissive comments about men as being "jocks" or "used car salesmen" or some other type of work not highly respected. People are judged by their past.

People should not be judged by other people. THAT is the root of all evil. To me, the point is not where someone started, but where they finished. I respect someone for what they've done, not what they once did. You earn respect by the time you put in, the thousand hours or more it takes to learn your craft. In this case, Sawyer has put the time in, and she's earned respect. That's why she has it. Not because she's a woman, because she was once in a beauty contest, or because she once worked for Nixon. Those are all unimportant in the context of all that followed. They're just an excuse for someone who is looking for a reason to dislike someone.

 

[formeraa]

Using this logic, and setting political views aside, I'm much rather see Hillary in high office than Palin (Miss Congeniality).

I would prefer that newscasters know their material and be professional journalists, rather than be the best looking and the best at reading off the prompter.

 

[MattParker]

Using this logic, and setting political views aside, I'm much rather see Hillary in high office than Palin (Miss Congeniality).

I would prefer that newscasters know their material and be professional journalists, rather than be the best looking and the best at reading off the prompter.

I wouldn't mind news readers like Diane and the local Kens and Barbies if we followed the British system. People on newscasts are called "presenters." No claim or pretense is made of journalistic credentials. They are hired to look good and read properly and nobody pretends otherwise.

People are judged by other people. Verbal Advantage: "People judge you by the words you use." People judge based on looks, based on past actions. Prospective employers must judge job candidates. Voters must judge political candidates. And viewers just TelePrompTer readers. You make judgements any time you pick up the remote. She wasn't a meteorologist when she did weather. She's not a journalist now. She is a female Ted Baxter. So are most of them. And it is relevant that she started out in life wanting to be "Betty Jo Boob" and wearing an ugly one piece swimsuit, a sash and a tiara. Same goes for Sara Palin. Both of them probably really wanted to be actresses but that would have required work, discipline and talent - plus memorizing rather than reading lines.