Model turns anchorwoman at Texas station
Cory Bergman June 11th, 2007
As part of the upcoming Fox reality show Anchorwoman, swimsuit model Lauren Jones (yes, that’s her in the photo) is making her debut today as the temporary co-anchor of the 5 p.m. news at KYTX-TV in Tyler, Texas. She arrived at the station a week ago and endured “intensive training,” and the crux of the show is whether she’ll survive the next few weeks on the air. “It devalues the work of real journalists who are trying to do real work,” says Al Tompkins, broadcast group leader for the Poynter Institute. “It doesn’t do anything to help the reputation of journalists there and around the world.” But KYTX-TV’s GM doesn’t see a problem with it. “Journalism credibility? I think that’s somewhat amusing when all I see today on the cable news is Paris Hilton, nonstop,” said station president and GM Phil Hurley. “As the new guy in town, we saw it as a promotional tool to show a lot of sampling in our newscast.” And yes, the station is getting paid, too. Hurley does have some shred of decency — he nixed Fox’s plans to put up billboards around town with Jones in a bikini. But truth be told, IMHO, Hurley is an idiot, and Anchorwoman will only make it more difficult for local TV journalists everywhere to do their jobs. (Thanks for the tip, Keith!)
Update: You can watch the news live via the stations’ website, CBS19.tv. (Actually, the link just plays the morning newscast right now. Perhaps they’ll update it with the 5 p.m. later?) Yes, that’s “Stormy the Dog” next to the anchors in the masthead.
Update: The local paper has an interview with Jones at KYTX-TV.
24 Comments Add your own
1. David Johnson | June 11th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
oh… my… god. i guess when you have stormy the dog, there isn’t much more you can do. somebody had better tell these folks that turkeys don’t fly before their thanksgiving promotion goes horribly wrong. “oh the humanity!”
2. adm | June 11th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
this is too good to be true.
safran HAS to be reconsidering his “no anchors in the masthead” position now! you KNOW 99% of visitors to this website will now be looking for either the swimsuit anchorlady or stormy the dog.
3. Lurker | June 11th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
According to her bio, she “works bicoastal”…
4. Anony Mouse | June 11th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I’ll probably get whacked for saying this, but Hurley is not an idiot. He’s not a genius either. The point is, if even that high-minded self-important blowhard Brian Williams can dismount his high horse and finally find a way to get Paris Hilton into his cratering newscast, then what makes Hurley wrong? Is it journalism? No. Does it “devalues the work of real journalists?” You bet. Is it awesome TV? You betcha! We’re talking about the also-ran station in a backwater bottom-100 market. The station was a dog before this, and it’ll be a dog afterward. And all this journalistic hand-wringing is giving them way more attention than they deserve. (P.S. how does CBS feel about all this happening at one of their affiliates for a reality show to air on Fox?)
The bottom line: if you’re gonna do TV, then do TV.
5. ! | June 11th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
katie couric will certainly be watching
6. Kerry | June 11th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
“But truth be told, Hurley is an idiot”
Truth? From your investigative reporting? Tell us the facts, but don’t opinionise it in the same paragraph. Those of us who don’t know who Phil Hurley is are now believeing you wrote this article due to a sense of hate against him.
7. ! | June 11th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
reminds me of another Texan; kinky friedman.
her slogan might be similar to Kinky’s when he ran for governor; “How hard can it be?”
8. Michael Gay | June 11th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
My favorite part about that site is when you roll-over Stormy in the masthead, he barks. We’re all getting a kick out of that here.
9. Cory | June 11th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I don’t call people idiots very often, but this infuriates me, and I know I’m not alone.
Hurley just wants higher ratings, and he could care less about journalism. His station is in a desperate position, so he needs a stunt.
If this were isolated to his station, no biggie. But he’s made a national reality show possible — a show that mocks TV journalism by design, damaging the credibility of local TV newsrooms everywhere. He’s made it our problem.
Lost Remote has never pulled any punches when we think something is damaging the industry, and Hurley and his bosses at “Max Media of East Texas LLC” deserve all the negative press they can get.
10. ! | June 11th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
true to tv form, stormy has a bio too.
11. Safran | June 11th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
“Truth be told, Hurley is an idiot.”
I’ll say. Sweeps ended a couple of weeks ago.
12. Celebrity | June 11th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Look at the product of this newscast… it looks a mess…
13. Don Day | June 11th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
And when you rollover the dog’s picture in the masthead… he barks.
I couldn’t find the link to watch live on CBS19.tv (after I got the newsroom all excited…)
14. Cory | June 11th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Ooops, I thought they would stream the 5 p.m. live the way the link was worded, but it’s just the morning show replay right now. Maybe they’ll stream the 5 later this evening?
15. Rob | June 11th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Wow. Their web team must really be on vacation as Anchorwoman doesn’t even have her bio posted to the website yet. No convergence love for the newest member of the news team I guess.
Stormy’s real name is Baxter, btw.
16. Allen | June 11th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
I just watched a few minutes. I thought she was pretty solid. If I didn’t know her background I would have wondered what she was doing in a small market like Tyler.
17. Howard Owens | June 11th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
I find it ironic that just a few doors down from this post is another post talking about how important “talent” is to a TV news show.
I guess there’s talent, and then there’s TALENT.
BTW: So what if Hurley said, “Journalism credibility? I think that’s somewhat amusing when all I see today on the Internet is porn, nonstop,” as he justified live sex on the news set.
It’s pretty much the same logical fallacy.
18. Anony Mouse | June 11th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Eugene, Oregon NBC affiliate KMTR has had Helmsley the Weather Dog since at least Sept. ‘06.
19. Dave | June 11th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
This station (what is it, KYTX?) has also had stormy since at least September ‘06. I blogged about Stormy 09-09-06, URL link. I don’t think he barked on mouseover then, that’s gold.
20. ??????? | June 12th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I’m not sure what all the uproar is about regarding this show. This model is attempting read the news, not run the country. People let us take a deep breath and relax.
21. Tylerfan | June 13th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Jones is NOT appearing in a bikini. She is attempting to tell stories, and read the Teleprompter in a professional manner. All over the country there are on air personal who have little or no “Journalism” background. Most learn the game on the job. That is all she is doing, but at least she is honest about her inexperience, and she seems to have a desire to learn. In the end this show is a comedy. All the folks who are making the loudest noise will surely be in the “reality”show to help make the plot. I can easily see the story of all these mean, jealous people attacking our “poor innocent anchorwomen”. Who do you think the audience is going to side with in the end?
22. Tom | June 15th, 2007 at 11:01 am
What Streit and others are mad about is that if she’s successful it shines the light on the dirty little secret that local news relies on people without a lick of journalism experience who look cute on TV and can read their lines without stumbling over them. I know for a fact that Brad Streit’s Channel 7, whose indignation knows no bounds over this, has, in the past, hired preachers, unemployed nonprofit executives and others without journalism credentials ho have actually done quite well as on air reporters. It’s local news for crying out loud. The producers are the ones doing most of the actual reporting anyway. Lauren Jones just did a story with us and she actually did a better job of getting the story “right” than most of the local reporters we have to deal with out here.
The local news directors would love to make you think there’s this big mystical thing surrounding local news reporting, but there’s not. You need to be able to write intelligibly, piece together film with the help of an underpaid editor and say your lines without stumbling - oh, and look good on camera. And you have to be able to work fast to meet deadlines. That requires talent, but it’s no mystery. Most relatively well-educated folks can do it so long as they don’t mind being seriously underpaid. Local news reporting for most people with any special gifts for it is only a stepping stone anyway. Oops, another secret slipped out…..
Don’t get me wrong, I love some of our local news guys, but many are not the sharpest pencils in the drawer. I’ve learned when we’re doing stories not to make things too complex for them. They’re in a hurry and they’ll forget all about you once the story is aired and you’ll have to re-educate them if something else ever comes up. The local guys are more humane, willing to listen and are more teachable than the network guys. I don’t disrespect them, but I don’t believe they are some special class of beings either. I know some local print reporters too and they’re just regular guys too - aside from the fact that they can write a coherent sentence on a deadline.
23. katie | June 16th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
it’s the office, meets small town texas.
geez, get a life. if it sucks it sucks, but why bitch about it just because she’s pretty?
who knows, she might surprise you.
24. lauren | July 6th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
everyone needs to just calm down here… it’s just a TV show, a comedy, about a bikini model who is transplanted as a fish out of water… it will make you laugh… it’s a great concept so just be calm and wait ’til it airs… aug 21st, on FOX
see you then!
xoxo
L
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