"Whatever the story, I had only one objective: to get it right. When I failed it was personally painful and there was no greater urgency than course correction. On those occasions I was grateful for your forbearance and always mindful that your patience and attention didn't come with a lifetime warranty."
Tom Brokaw
On his last "Nightly News" broadcast.
December 1st 2004
"Courage. For the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather reporting. Goodnight."
Dan Rather
On his last "CBS Evening News" broadcast.
March 9th 2005
"Give news a little more time and don't request that they also, in their news time, entertain. We're not entertainers. We're journalists. And we need more time to do our job well."
Walter Cronkite
With CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer about Dan Rather and the news industry today.
"I know I probably shouldn't make fun of the TV news people in Los Angeles since they have just gone through the same earthquake that we did, but then I remember that they gave us 2 years of O.J., so screw em!! After all, the news people have just gone through the same quake we did, and while still in a state of shock, they have to rush to the studio where their news director flings them in front of the camera with no make up no wardrobe and no teleprompter, and until they can get some kind of official word from cal tech they are told to stall, this is when we find out who was a broadcast journalism major and who was the first runner up in the Miss America pageant."
Tony Figueroa's
Stand-Up Routine
I have been thinking a lot about the role of the news anchor lately as well as the state of the news media. CHILD OF TELEVISION: If it wasn't for bad news, I wouldn't have any news at all. I do not judge the news anchor by the way that he or she reads a teleprompter, even though that is a very important job skill. Nor would I judge the news anchor by the way that he or she conducts an interview even though that too is a very important job skill. A good interviewer does not necessarily make a good anchor. I do judge the news anchor by how they handle themselves when they have to stall. It is not everyone who can address a local or national audience while not knowing what is going to happen next and can not only convey what information they do have, but to also do it with a sense of calm.
TONY FIGUEROA is a standup comedian, writer, actor and storyteller based in Los Angeles. A "day job" teaching comedy traffic school led to Tony cohosting and coproducing several radio shows. Tony’s CHILD OF TELEVISION Blog is an example of life imitating art. …
Visit Tony Figueroa's author page
— Tony Figueroa's Blog
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