The BBC TV Network service DID have women in senior presenting anchor roles years ago - Sue Lawley, Julia Somerville and Debbie Thrower to name but a few.
The BBC TV Network service DID have women in senior presenting anchor roles years ago - Sue Lawley, Julia Somerville and Debbie Thrower to name but a few.
Not forgetting Angela Rippon and Jan Leaming
So what happened to change this?
I don't think you can pinpoint one reason as to why women are possibly not seen as the lead newscasters -- it's just a gradual evolution over the years. Arguably, women now have higher positions in TV news than ever before. The names from the 1970s and 80s above are pretty excpetional really. If you think of BBC News and ITN throughout the years, men have usually always led the main bulletins. Though this is still mostly the case, the launch of 24-hour news channels has allowed an increasing number of women to move higher up the ranks.
Personally, I don't agree with the trend of men leading the main bulletins. The ITV Evening News isn't so bad, as Mark and Mary do alternate between who leads, but the Six O'clock News is the worst. Whenever George Alagiah is on duty, he leads. I don't see why they don't alternate between him and Sian leading each day. If you pay careful attention to News 24, you'll see the male and female on a particular shift will alternate each day. For example, on Monday, Anna Jones may lead with Philip Hayton standing at the big screen, whereas on Tuesday, Phil will lead, with Anna at the screen.
Although I don't like to say it, the reason for males dominating TV news may be that they appear more authoritative. I don't agree with this -- take Anna Ford as an example. She is more authoritative than many male presenters on today's news programmes. The same applies to Moira Stuart too.
Has anyone else noticed the way Moira almost always starts her bulletins with the words "Morning To You"? It's almost becoming a bit of an obsession of mine - I love the way she says it so seriously. I actually look forward to hearing it every morning, and I'm disappointed if she (like this morning at 8am) doesn't say it.
Before anyone says anything, I do actually get out lots.
I used to really enjoy Moira's bulletins with Peter Sissons on the BBC Six several years ago. They were an excellent pairing and offered a very credible presentation.
Moira is by far the most recognisable presnter on BBC News today. I reiterate the comments made in my original post at the top of this thread - she deserves recignition for not dabbling in the celebrity loop that so many of her colleagues seem to thrive on.
Other than the BBC Children in Need slot last year, does anyone remember Moira doing anything else that remotely resembled tabloid tat? (CIN was for charity so totally acceptable in my opinion).
Other than the BBC Children in Need slot last year, does anyone remember Moira doing anything else that remotely resembled tabloid tat? (CIN was for charity so totally acceptable in my opinion).
Yes -- didn't Moira co-host some sort of antiques programme a couple of years ago? I seem to remember her doing something like that on a Sunday evening.
Sue Lawley was the main presenter of the Six - the most watched news - for years, and rightly so. I think she should come back.
Also, on News 24 I'm pretty sure that the men & women are of equal 'rank'. Jane is easily the equal (if not better) of Matthew as is the case with Louise Minchin & Jon Sopel.
