The money, honey: The rise of the female anchor, the female reporter, and women in the news business
(Book Chapter)
Political Science Department, Stevens Service Learning Center, Merrimack College, North Andover, MA, United States
Abstract
On September 5, 2006, after a summer full of listening tours, gossip columns, and media hype, Katie Couric took over the CBS Evening News. Female news anchors and reporters have become commonplace among local, cable, and other network news programs, but this was the first time in U.S. history that a woman became the sole anchor of an evening network news broadcast. The legion of famous network news anchors-Chet Huntley, John Chancellor, David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, men that generations of average Americans had turned to for their evening news-now included a woman. Would a "Katie" be accepted in this club? The historical significance of this event was underscored by the amount of media coverage and the frenzied analysis of every bit of her twenty-twominute maiden broadcast. From her first "Hi everybody" to her "Good night," from her clothing to her legs, from the stories that aired to the stories that did not, not a moment of the broadcast was left untouched. But why was this night so important? Why was so much attention being paid to a person who read the news? Wasn't it about time a woman got the opportunity to be a network anchor? The rise of the female news anchor and reporter, and the public's reaction to her, is symbolic of the challenges of third-wave feminism, which "gave young women the notion that contemporary feminism was unnecessary because equality had been achieved."1 Jill Abramson of the New York Times commented on the historical significance of Couric's appointment by saying, "It seemed a pretty giant step for womankind, but maybe I was stuck in a retro mindset. . . . Some of my younger friends, male and female, both inside and outside journalism, were far less impressed at the prospect of the 'first woman solo anchor.' "2 Although equality may have been achieved on the surface, a double standard was still looming regarding the expectations of this celebrated hire. Couric's appointment to the CBS anchor chair has been celebrated as a victory for women, but the microscope she has been under since then shows how incomplete the victory actually is. During this same period, CBS reporters Lara Logan and Kimberly Dozier were covering dangerous spots in the Middle East, and on cable news channels, Campbell Brown and Maria Bartiromo were headlining their own programs. On the surface, as a result of Couric's appointment and the prominence of women such as Logan and Bartiromo, female anchors and reporters seem to have reached equal status. They are on television more often and compete for the same jobs as their male counterparts, with similar pay, assignment opportunities, and risks. However, peel away the top layer, and one sees a subtle battle going on. Women have clearly surpassed the first hurdle-getting into these network anchor and reporting positions. Maintaining those positions and being evaluated equally and fairly by their bosses and the public are the next hurdles women in the news media face. The goal of second-wave feminism to overcome the double standard has not yet been achieved in the news business. Katie Couric's first year as anchor has been considered a disappointment, and there is growing speculation that she will step down after the 2008 election. In light of the challenges women working in the media encounter, one must ask: Is Couric being held to a different standard because she is a woman, or is she being criticized because the CBS Evening News is still in third place in the ratings? The answer depends on what she was actually hired to do. Was she hired to overhaul the evening news broadcast, to bring in a new type of program? Or was she hired as a marketing device to attract younger viewers to CBS? If she had brought the ratings up in her first year, would the same spotlight be on her now? And after all the hype, what happens if the "experiment" of the first solo female news anchor fails? Is it a defeat for women, or was Couric just the wrong person for the job? When Kimberly Dozier is injured in a roadside explosion in Iraq or Elizabeth Vargas is pushed off the evening news due to her pregnancy, reactions to these events show that a double standard is still an important consideration when exploring a field dominated by men. This chapter examines the rise of female anchors and reporters in the news business, first by looking at who some of these women are; how they were hired; how they have been judged within their industry, by media observers, and by the public; and how their experiences compare with those of their male counterparts. From there I draw some conclusions about how fairly women in the media are being evaluated and what this tells us about the impact of women in the high-stakes television news business and the rocky road they have to travel. Copyright © 2009 by The University Press of Kentucky. All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-081312544-2Source Type: Book Original language: English
Document Type: Book Chapter
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
