Fox has developed a solid way to capitalize on the unparalleled journalistic respect it has earned: debuting a reality program about the hiring of a completely unqualified former WWE Diva and "Price is Right" model to anchor a news program in rural Texas.
Let me repeat that. Fox has extended the realm of reality programming -- that conceit that anything can be done by anyone and is worth televising -- to the world of journalism itself.
Of course, no one will be surprised to learn that those superbly coiffed local newspersons are occasionally selected with looks as the first criterion. But to trumpet such a choice? Gutsy.
There is no shortage of self-reflection on Fox's decision by the existing staff at Channel 19. The displaced (and not unattractive) previous anchor indicates clearly that her frustration is, "a credibility thing." Mention is made of Ed Murrow "spinning in his grave". When the news director indicates a desire to emerge with his "credibility intact", a co-worker responds quickly: "Good luck on that." (This exchange follows the news director's asking Anchorwoman to go home and change out of her stilettos and miniskirt. When he asks what anchors she has seen dressed in that manner, she does not mention Katie Couric.) Truly, the staff, even at a small station in East Texas, understands the mandate that news production implies.
Not so, Anchorwoman.
She asks to do fewer stories. She is surprised that she is supposed to pay attention during the morning meeting. She dances in the background of a live shot. She indicates that cannoli are a Jewish delicacy. WWE Diva behavior, all, and that's fine.
What's not fine is when she states, within the first three minutes of the show, an enthusiasm for anchoring so she can "express her opinion". Or when she asks an interviewee to repeat a particular phrase she has used. The staff's concerns are valid and, frankly, obvious. Anchorwoman has no training in journalism, nor, importantly, in journalistic standards and expectations. She compares her first broadcast to her first time entering the ring, because, to her, it is. It's repeating lines on a teleprompter, and adding her own je ne sais quoi when desired.
That Fox would gleefully promote this program is bizarre to the point of suspicion. Is this, after all, a middle finger to journalists? Is this Fox taking years of critique and saying, in essence, you ain't seen nothing yet? Could something so obviously lacking in ethics have been done deliberately? That's question one.
Question two: if, as indicated at the end of the second half hour in a glimmer of hope, Anchorwoman can be a success at her job, does this speak more to her abilities or to the complete degradation of quality expected from American journalists? Is there any difference in journalistic readiness or any difference in expectation level between Anchorwoman and the channel's other cute prop, Stormy, the weather dog?
The best way to find out the answers to these questions: watch your local news. Literally. As promo'd during the show, your Fox affiliate has a segment profiling Anchorwoman during its 11 o'clock broadcast.