The reason we can no longer have newreaders who are not journalists is because sometimes they need to switch from reading something that someone else has written, to being a journalist in their own right. It’s not like the old days where the script for a fixed 30 minute show was usually set in stone before the show started.

Breaking news comes in and they must be able to know the questions to ask and which issues are important. Sure, sometimes they can be fed questions down an ear-piece from the production gallery, but not always.

Moira Stuart is a charismatic and much-loved BBC news reader. Part of the outcry is because she is one of the few black women on British TV and one of very few older women. The BBC has a long and shameful history of putting incredibly talented older women presenters on the scrap-heap: Angela Rippon, Anne Gregg, Valerie Singleton to name just a few…

Local news is more of the same, only you add regular features: Weather, Traffic & Sports.

The thing is the AUDIENCE for the old way is dying off (tho judging by all the pharmaceutical ads, they are doing so with calm legs, spiffy new blood meters and “fully functional” … “down there”).

That’s blunted by the blurring of news and entertainment which also tends to focus on celebrities / personalities. Rocketboom had Amanda Congdon. The Wonkette had Anna Marie Cox. CNet’s Buzz Report had Molly Wood (tho she’s scheduled to turn from maternity leave in June). CNet’s Buzz Out Loud has Tom Merritt, Veronica Belmont and Molly Wood (when she returns). This Week in Tech has Leo Laporte. Digg Nation has Kevin Rose. Digital Life TV has Patrick Norton. Yadda, yadda, yadda. They don’t just read the news headlines, they also editorialize, rant, joke, etc.

Much like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert. Both adopt the ancient stand-up comic routine of “set-up” and “retort”. They start with the routine announcement and then give a funny reaction to said announcement.

– Ken from Chicago

P.S. Like talk radio, announce / respond, announce / respond, rinse, lather, repeat.

Media is ultimately becoming more human against the grain of digitization. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

A World Without Katies from BuzzMachine reports on a major BBC newsreader getting dumped - allegedly because the Beeb is changing up its format or way of doing news - and that these newsreaders aren’t the big ANCHORS that read…

I wish there were more, not less, with his sheer natural abilities to, well, weave things together so masterfully. I could care less what platform they’re doing it from. Do it on ustream.tv, for chrissake. There’s always room for genuine star power in any platform. Always. Mere mortals simply crave ‘em. And Lord knows, any VJ and a DV cam (sorry Michael!) just doesn’t satisfy that kinda craving.

Not that they don’t serve a great need; a news feed is food on the run in your car with the kids howling in the back seat in 7 lanes of traffic hell. A truly gifted, talented anchor is a special night out. With candles and flowers and all that stuff. Expensive, eh!?

You can take the star power out of the news, but it’s going to be very difficult to lose a model like that when it’s the same one currently driving American Politics. Star power is virtually engraved into our culture, at this point…nobody gets elected unless they look and sound better than the next guy, or gal, in most cases. One can almost see a political edition of IDOL on the horizon - though perhaps it would be smarter to combine the format with that of SURVIVOR…and add a dash of FEAR FACTOR, just to keep it really interesting…

Don’t hold you’re breath, anybody: Katie’s not going anywhere, yet…

Wasn’t CBS doing that with Bob Schieffer?

Jeremy Paxman, many of the Today interviewers, and many, many other BBC announcers, reporters, and anchors do great work (thank goodness for the Internet — which allows me to watch and listen to their work). One thing is they offer hard, tough interviews, not just a mouthpiece for interviewees. Even to big politicians like Tony Blair and John Negroponte the interviewers try to get past the political rhetoric and BS-ing.

Moira Stuart was the last news presenter who was not a journalist as far as I know.

So when you say they are ‘merely’ newsreaders. What do you mean? Many of the news presenters here are instantly recognisable to millions of Britons– Jon Snow, Trevor McDonald, Jeremy Paxman — they are professional journalists and they are presenters too. What makes a ’star’?

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/apr/14/dallas-press-club-attempting-rebound-period-allege/

In a way, maybe you are…