Television Anchors

A close and dear friend of mine who does not share my political views asked me the other day about the background of the hosts of Fox and Friends, FNC's morning show entry. I responded that their names were Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, and Gretchen Carlson whose backgrounds were weather guy, sports guy, and former Miss America respectively. Sounds pretty unimpressive, doesn't it?

That started me to thinking. Just what are the backgrounds of many of the reporters who are our nation’s gatekeepers to information and interpretation? What separates these “journalists” from you or me? Is there anything in their backgrounds that makes them smarter than you and me?  Does a degree in Journalism give them some special insight...some education specialty?  I concluded what these folks don't know is a lot.  Yet we grant them the status of opinion maker.  

Let’s start with the Fox and Friends hosts. Steve Doocy was born in Iowa and raised in Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.S. in Journalism. He anchored news shows on WCBS in New York, and an Emmy award winning reporter for WRC in Washington DC. Other reporting gigs included Kansas City, Des Moines, and Topeka. He has written two New York Times best sellers, both of which centered on family life.

Brian Kilmeade was born and raised in Massapequa, New York and earned his B.A. degree at Long Island University, CW Post campus. He is strongly rooted in sports, working at various stations from California to New Jersey and has also done stand-up comedy. He has written two best sellers centered on the importance of sports in society.

Gretchen Carlson was born and raised in Minnesota. She is a cum laude graduate of Stamford University with a degree in social work with supplemental studies at Oxford University in England. Ms. Carlson is an accomplished violinist which helped propel her to be crowned Miss America in 1989. In addition to playing with Minnesota Orchestra in the 8th grade, she spent five summers studying at the Aspen Music Festival. Her broadcast bona fides include stints in Richmond, Dallas, Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Let’s look at a few others from different networks.

Matt Lauer was born in New York City. He attended the broadcast school at Ohio University, but dropped out in 1979 to produce the noon news at a station in Huntington, West Virginia where he was soon anchoring the six and eleven o’clock news shows. Ohio University granted him a full degree in 1997 awarding him school credits for “independent study.” He left West Virginia and pursued a career hosting various talk and entertainment shows in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond as well as on ESPN. He moved to WNBC in 1992 and worked a series of entertainment shows for both the network and local New York affiliate. He was offered the Today Show gig in 1997 after Bryant Gumbel’s departure.   

Katie Couric hails from Richmond, Virginia. Both her mother and father were in the news business, her father being a mucky muck with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and United Press in Washington. Katie attended the University of Virginia and graduated in 1979 with a degree in English with an emphasis on American studies. Her journalistic trail took her from CNN to Miami to WRC, NBC’s Washington affiliate. She subbed for many of the anchors on NBC’s early morning programs, and eventually replaced Deborah Norville on the Today Show after Norville was fired while on pregnancy leave. She has since served as anchor for the CBS Evening News, and currently is associated with ABC.

Candy Crowley was born in Michigan but was raised in Missouri and then Chappaqua, New York. She is a graduate of Randoph-Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree in English. Her news roots were in the Mutual Broadcasting Company and the Associated Press. She also worked for NBC prior to moving CNN where she is today.

Soledad O’Brien is the child of an Australian father and Afro-Cuban mother. Her family is highly educated. Her mother was a French and English teacher. Her father was a mechanical engineer professor. Her siblings include a surgeon, a lawyer, a law professor and an anesthesiologist. Soledad is a Harvard graduate, attending Harvard in the 1980’s but not achieving her degree until 2000. Her brothers and sisters are also Harvard graduates. She is married to a successful investment banker. Her broadcast chops were earned at NBC and its affiliates in Boston and San Francisco. She moved to CNN in 2003 and has become one of its major anchors.

Although each of the above has had a successful career in journalism, nothing in their background gives them any special insight into life. Their educational backgrounds are fairly pedestrian. They are experts on nothing. Yet they are able to filter the news to fit whatever their vision of the world is notwithstanding that vision may built on a weak foundation.

My comment is not meant to distract from their considerable accomplishments. But at the end of the day, I have more education than each of them, and my life experiences are no more and no less than theirs.

I admire all of the above. I admire their tenacity and success in a very a difficult and highly competitive field. But the commentary that accompanies their news broadcasts…hey….I know just as much as them if not more. We give these guys way too much credit for knowing way more than us.

That’s our mistake, not theirs. So when you see Matt Lauer pontificating on the Today Show…remember that he was broke and chopping down trees for a living when NBC called him to work. As for my Fox and Friends anchors, there's nothing wrong with being a weather guy, a sports guy, or a Miss America especially when they agree with me!!!!