News presenter

A news presenter is, broadly speaking, a person that presents a news show on television or radio. The term is not commonly used by people in the industry as they tend to use more descriptive, and sometimes country-specific, terms.

Criticism

A common dogma among the general public equates "news" and "news media" with "journalism", and this typically carries over to news anchors as well — associating media personalities with journalists — much to the consternation of many print journalists. In the current age of mass media and consolidation, news anchors tend to be viewed as belonging to the infotainment or news trades, rather than to the journalism profession. There is a spectrum and scale however — the quintessential national news anchors from early days of television news tended to come from experienced backgrounds in print journalism. Since then, television news has largely been an entity in its own right, where print and television journalism can be viewed as divergent trades.

Related Topics:
Dogma - Media personalities - Mass media - Consolidation - Infotainment - Television news

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Adding to the distinction between journalists and anchors and reporters are "human interest", personality, or celebrity news stories, which typically are directed by marketing departments based on a demographic appeal and audience share. Its commonly accepted that anchors are also media personalities, who may even be considered celebrities. The very nature of corporate network news requires its media personalties to use their public appeal to promote the networks investments, just as network broadcasts themselves (morning shows, TV news magazines) schedule self-promotional stories, in addition to advertising.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Audience share - Morning shows - TV news magazines

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Critics might go so far as to view anchors as a weak link in the news trade, representing the misplacement of both the credit and the accountability of a news journalism organization —hence adding to a perceived erosion of journalistic standards throughout the news business. (See yellow journalism.)

Related Topics:
Journalistic standards - Yellow journalism

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In popular culture, the corporate news anchor is viewed as an archetype of the status quo and bland superficiality of corporate news media. As public people, they tend to receive an excess measure of social (and financial) reward for the hard work of "true" journalists behind the scenes.

Related Topics:
Archetype - Status quo

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North American news anchors are frequently imitated and lampooned people who are hired for more their looks on TV than for any skill at journalism or intelligence. This kind of character is the subject of long running gags on Saturday Night Live, SCTV, and the UK-produced The Muppet Show and the subject of sitcoms like Mary Tyler Moore, Murphy Brown, and NewsRadio.

Related Topics:
North American - Journalism - Saturday Night Live - SCTV - UK - The Muppet Show - Sitcom - Mary Tyler Moore - Murphy Brown - NewsRadio

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