It was announced yesterday that current Good Morning America anchor Diane Sawyer will serve as the next ABC World News anchor, beginning in January 2010. (Charles Gibson, who has served as anchor of World News since May of 2006, is retiring.)
Carol Jenkins, the President of the Women's Media Center, called it a "watershed moment in the presence of women in media" in her reaction on the Majority Post. Sawyer, of course, is the second to shatter the nightly news glass ceiling, Katie Couric of CBS News being the first.
The question on my mind, and I imagine most feminists', is: Will Sawyer receive the same kind of scrutiny that Couric has? Of course there have been moments when Couric earned her own criticism. Remember this?
Ugh ugh ugh.
But other times it has seemed as if Couric has been judged more harshly than her male counterparts. Hell, even her own network photo-shopped her thinner!
On the occasion of her second anniversary in the high-pressure position, Couric attested:
It's not always easy when you feel like you're being attacked, when you can't win for losing at times. But I do think quality really prevails, if we just stay focused and continue to do really good work. It was really wonderful when we got the Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast. It was sort of like, you know, just look at our show and don't look at my hair.
Another issue, which Ann reported on back in the day, is that "Broadcasting & Cable reports that in the six weeks since Katie Couric has taken over the anchor's chair, female reporters and correspondents on the CBS Evening News have recevied 40% fewer assignments." Will the same happen over at ABC?
Sawyer seems like a perfectly decent interviewer and a hardworking journalist, but I'm also struck that she fits into the "Newsmommy model" that Ann reported on back when Couric was chosen--essentially that the networks are choosing women who are non-threatening, aka maternal, for the top positions so as not to freak out viewers still not used to the idea that women can be assertive, independent, and--gasp--childless.
Another part of me is thrilled because I think that having two women in these coveted spots will lessen some of the pressure felt by the initial trailblazer. If Sawyer's newscast doesn't do well, as Couric hasn't, then people won't be able to blame it solely on her sex. Perhaps critics will get more used to seeing women in this traditionally male media position and start to look at the work, not the haircut.
Your thoughts? Are you excited about Sawyer taking over or do you predict more backlash?
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I saw a piece this morning on this. In it, a quote they played--"America loves a catfight!"--pretty much summed up the tone of the whole spot. Now that Sawyer is a news anchor, somehow she is so similar to Couric, and somehow this means the women will not only compete for ratings on a professional level but also have a catfight, which invokes images of hair-pulling, scratching, and personal jibes; all of which I sincerely doubt will happen.
But of course, the best thing to do when women start breaking glass ceilings, is to somehow pit them against each other, even when they aren't looking for a fight. Because if they are too busy picking at each other, they won't be a threat to the male domination of whatever field women are making gains in.
My general impression is that Diane Sawyer is thought of as more of a "serious journalist" than Katie Couric was when she ascended to the CBS position. Sawyer is a little older, a little more seasoned, and has a little more gravitas in her demeanor (in my opinion - of course I've never been a fan of Couric's interviewing style). So I don't know that Sawyer will face as much personal criticism as Couric did. But there will certainly be those who want to suggest that anytime two women are in similar positions they are bound to be bitter, bitchy rivals. Those people can, of course, go to hell. I'm proud to see Sawyer - a fellow Kentuckian - get her due.
I am super excited about Diane Sawyer being anchor of ABC World News. I definitely think she she more a "serious journalist" than Katie Couric. Diane just seems more polished and professional as a reporter. (Though I also wouldn't have mind seeing Robin Roberts get the position either! She is talented and just amazing, and allowing viewers watch her battle breast cancer on national tv was courageous.)
Before we know it, they're going discuss her looks and her body.
and of course, the media will make up some bullshit, imaginary fake "catfight" between her and Ms. Couric.
lame.
Personally I don't care for Sawyer or Couric so I'm moved by this.
I dream of the day when Ann Curry anchors the Nightly News or some other news program. She's got the gravitas.
Sawyer's a soft-focus skunk.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2082054/
I hate for Sawyer's career to be diminished as 'newsmommy' or 'soft focus.' Leave aside GMA for a moment: She has worked as a local news reporter in Kentucky, White House press aide, presidential literary assistant (to Nixon, to be sure), political correspondent to CBS News and 60 Minutes, co-anchor of Primetime Live and co-anchor of 20/20.
She's interviewed everyone, including the last three (at least) presidents and their wives, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (one of the first interviews granted to an American), Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, Robert McNamara, Manuel Noriega, & dozens of legislators and Supreme Court justices.
In short: props to Sawyer and to ABC News for choosing her. I believe she'll do an excellent job. I fear the sexist shit piled on Couric will come upon her, but I'm grateful that, as this post noted, having two women at anchor desks diminishes it.
In the future, I'd like to see Gwen Ifil and Maria Hinojosa anchoring news shows too. Their great television journalists, and TV news anchoring is still way too white.
Oh, one more thing? People are pitting Sawyer against Couric, comparing who is more "serious." That's fine, but I just want to remind folks that Couric earned herself some serious credibility with her interviews with Sarah Palin (among others). I was very impressed.
Couric is definitely more serious than Palin.
lol
**Yawn** Wake me up when Rachel Maddow gets the anchor chair.
I met Diane Sawyer once, on top of being a fantastic host and journalist she's an incredibly nice, personable and friendly woman.
This is very exciting.
If this were Racheal Maddow or Christiane Amanpour I'd be pleased and excited but these two to me are every bit as status quo as the men are, Diane Sawyer got her start working for Richard Nixon for pete's sake.
If she were "assertive, independent and childless", we'd be complaining about how it proves that "They" think that women can't have it all. Sotomayor, anyone? I welcome it because it shows that women - married or not, with kids or not, can do whatever they want (and are qualified for). And she's certainly qualified. I think the "newsmommy" angle is bunk.