I would like to remark on a group of people who are constantly in the public eye but are rarely talked about. News anchors. People such as Tom Brokaw, Wolf Blitzer, Ted Koppel, and the late Ed Bradley and Peter Jennings. Look at these people: They are constantly in the public eye, but they are in no way celebrities. A celebrity is someone like Angelina Jolie, Paris Hilton, or Tom Cruise. A celebrity is someone constantly under the scrutinizing view of the world. They are criticized for their every little action. They hold political views, ethical views, ecological views, and demand the attention of everybody. But news anchors are a different breed entirely. They do not go prancing down the famed Red Carpet of the Oscars. Their faces are rarely on any tabloid magazine. They are the faces of the news, and are never the news themselves. Sure, there are those choice few "news anchors" as you could call them. Bill O' Reilly comes to mind off the bat. But what he leads is what many would call a talk show. A real news anchor does not allow his or her political views to come out while delivering the news. They just deliver the news as it occurred. I find it so strange how news anchors are both so recognized but so largely ignored by the public. Most people have nothing bad to say about Dan Rathers. Lindsey Lohan however is another story altogether. And that is why news anchors and celebrities are two entirely different classes of television media.
Which brings me to another point. What about the blurred line between celebrity and news anchor. The most prominent figure that comes to mind is of course the comedian-turned-comedian-news-anchor Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. He has appeared in only a handful of movies, thus establishing himself as a small comedy actor. But his main and shining "role" is the news anchor for The Daily Show. With the growing popularity of the show, Jon Stewart is establishing himself as a very well known news anchor. While he may deny the actual impact of his show, downplaying himself as a real news anchor, he delivers news nonetheless. An outspoken Democrat, he is able to leave out his personal political views while delivering the news, something that a real news anchor must do. Jon Stewart accomplished something that nobody can. He was an actor in movies, then a news anchor. You will never see someone like Ashton Kutcher or Samuel L. Jackson (no matter how sweet that would be) becoming a news anchor, and on the flipside Barbara Walters will never be in a movie as an actor. While both a news anchor and a celebrity have to be able to act, the two will never switch places. I just felt like commenting on the news anchor. It is a role in our society that many people overlook. We feel they are just there delivering news. And upon closer inspection, we find out that's all they really do.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
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