Why Women News Anchors Need A Makeover

It's interesting to see that this problem plagues the UK, too:

Why do all female newscasters look like 80s throwbacks?-Marcus Tompkinson, by email

Oh so harsh, but oh so true. The short answer is, I haven't a clue. And the longer answer is, I haven't a clue but it's a real darn shame, isn't it? For here is a ripe opportunity for the public to see that a person can look wise and trustworthy and stylish, all in one daily package. Instead, what we seem to get is a choice between helmet hair and shoulder pads or down with da kidz jeans (Natasha Kaplinsky, we'll return to you in just a tick) and miniskirts. And the simplicity of that dichotomy pretty much sums up the problem and probable cause.

Read the entire Guardian response here.

We were all quite impressed--or was it depressed?--when FOX Business launched with its bevy of very generic beauties.

Then Radar came out with a brilliant quiz that begged the question: Fox News Anchor or Porn Star?

Maxim did a run-down of the top ten sexiest news anchors.

Is it time that female news anchors got a makeover? Tell us in comments below.

Comments

[NoahVail]

06:23 AM on 02/27/2008

I stopped paying attention to women news ladies after Lynn Russell quit working for CNN. Now there was a confident woman who did not either try to be hot, nor was she embarrassed by her hotness.

[bernaljg]

02:53 PM on 02/26/2008

To me a bigger problem is that at some point in the last year everyone decided the camera has to come up closer so your face fills the entire screen. I don't know if this is a result of the high def/widescreen conversion or just the product of some focus group who likes it intimate. People, back up please! You're invading my personal space. Please put the desk back between us. Anyone else noticed this? I can't watch Countdown anymore because I feel Keith O. may just breath me up.

[larry278]

10:30 AM on 02/26/2008

How about a unisex look for all anchors? CNN's Blitzer, Amanpour & Cooper show a variety of unisex styles.

[AxelDC]

08:31 AM on 02/26/2008

They want to look mannish so they look tough and strong.

They need to start hiring females for their brains, not their looks. ABC has done a good job of finding pretty women with brains, like Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. However, Katie Couric, Ann Curry and the lot come across as aging bimbos.

I'm sure the male audience appreciates the eye candy, but I'd rather have Eleanor Roosevelt discuss the news than Jessica Simpson. Leave the news to people with brains and let people looking for mindless female eye candy watch "Deal or No Deal."

[jukesgrrl]

03:54 AM on 02/26/2008

I don't care what they look like. I would just like them to stop making inane, personal responses to the news they are reporting (to use a term loosely). Yeah, that means you, Contessa, and all the other hair-product models on MSNBC; I honestly don't care how horrified you are by the latest car chase, fire, shooting, dog-up-a-tree story you are reading. Please keep your comments and eye-rolls to yourself and, above all, stop with the "I just can't believe how I'd feel if those were my kids" sharing.

[mamacat]

03:21 AM on 02/26/2008

If the news would go back to being informative, instead of a money maker, then perhaps they would hire women who have a journalism background, instead of a pole-dancing background.

[darker]

02:25 AM on 02/26/2008

ALL news anchors are fake and their hair sucks.

All should be replaced by TALENTED ROBOTS-- the real thing!

[harker6868]

01:40 AM on 02/26/2008

You should check out all the Phoenix local female reporters - they all have Victoria's Secret wig hair.

[turkeyneck]

12:49 AM on 02/26/2008

Betty Nguyen. Now there's a babe.

[Merp]

03:25 AM on 02/26/2008

HELLS YES... She was hotter than ANYONE on the Maxim list... wtf.

[ThreeCentsWorth]

12:44 AM on 02/26/2008

Why is this question getting this much attention? Is Britney becoming an anchor?

[ltyr2002]

12:41 AM on 02/26/2008

The anchor women on Fox News look like blowup dolls. They are disgusting! They should be cavorting with passersby in Amsterdam for chrissakes!

I think throwback CNN women are refreshingly boring by comparison.

[Ping]

01:38 AM on 02/26/2008

The women on Fox have that "empty" look in their eyes.

[terriw]

11:31 PM on 02/25/2008

why doesnt cnn spring for some hair, make-p and get some clothing sponsors and tighten up and at least mitigate some of the disasters i see daily. from clubbing makeup to distracting jewelry to helmet hair...

someone stop them from styling themselves is all i ask.

[WilliamWallace]

11:14 PM on 02/25/2008

I remember when this site used to have news.

[tehriaz]

11:39 PM on 02/25/2008

I barely do, it was a LONG time ago.

[budalla]

12:50 AM on 02/26/2008

All to true. At some point the HuffPost was over run by media personalities who seemed to think that starring in some show or movie and being well paid for it somehow translated into having an opinion that had some real worth beyond anyone else's. The trouble is fame doesn't necessarily equal a true original voice or intelligent opinion.

Sad, very sad. I really liked what the HuffPost was. I mow visit only about once a week to see if the actor Baldwin and his ilk have tired of their pseudo intellectual ramblings and have left the site to the musings of real reporters and pundits that actually have some real knowledge of the world.

Alas, I don't think that will happen. And therein lies the pity and the shame of what the HuffPost has become.

So it goes.

[suki78]

12:29 AM on 02/26/2008

Good One.

[bobdob]

10:19 PM on 02/25/2008

I get a little chubbie every time I see Heidi Collins on TV. But when Fredrika Whitfield does the news in her leather biker jacket... Ooh, baby!

There are plenty of babes on TV who look just fine.

Now, if we could just get rid of that gas-bag, Lou Dobbs.

[Ping]

01:30 AM on 02/26/2008

CNBC. Rebecca Javis, Bertha Combs, Sanjay Patel. Too bad Allison Stewart is on PBS now, she lost weight and she straightened her hair. There's a brain behind those good looks too.

[Zeje]

10:15 AM on 02/27/2008

I wondered what happened to Allison Stewart. I liked her curly hair better -- she is gorgeous and smart.

[zreeb]

10:04 PM on 02/25/2008

I have no qualms with Robin Meade. Oh... Robin Meade.

http://robinmeaderocks.tripod.com/id4.html

[EnuffsEnuffAlready]

12:16 AM on 02/27/2008

Abso-tively and posi-lutely! For me, Robin Meade is the benchmark against which the others have to be measured...and few come close. Beauty, brains, personality, awesome wardrobe, and then......that fun laugh!