Doing the news can't be easy. It's a lot more than just reading the teleprompter, especially when you do it live. The really good anchors make it look easy and the merely competent ones make it look hard (but you feel for them). It's the really bad ones that make you cringe and throw something at the TV (or change the channel). Not only are they incompetent when it comes to skills, they have an off-putting air about them. At best they are anchors who should be reporters and not sit in an anchor chair.
I've picked the three very worst ones I can find on TV right now. And just so we're clear, I'm talking about news people who read the news or anchor. So you won't see show hosts like Nancy Grace or Bill O'Reilly here. And I'm concentrating on national anchors, not local ones. There's not enough space on the web to do one on local anchors. Though I'd love to do one on Boston anchors some day.
1. Rick Sanchez (CNN): Do I really have to explain why he's #1? OK...
Formerly of MSNBC, Sanchez's claim to fame is the time he got tasered by the police to see what it was like (the video was mocked endlessly on The Daily Show). But beyond mocking Sanchez for the ridiculous stories he does and the way that he does them (a mixture of arrogance and cluelessness), the guy is an irritation when it comes to his voice too. It's one of those faux, booming, "I'm an announcer! Three people have just died in a horrific accident in Los Angeles, and you just heard "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club. Coming up next..." type of voices. But he's casual too! You can tell by the way he sits on the edge of a console or leans back in his chair. The casual guy with the evil demeanor. You want really bad things to happen to Sanchez, like a tax audit or explosive diarrhea. He's the guy who makes you realize, yes, Ted Baxters really do exist. When Sanchez is on, I change the channel immediately, even if the only other thing on is a Supernanny rerun.
2. Ann Curry (NBC): Curry never met a sentence she couldn't stumble over. She seems to favor reading the news really rapidly, as if that gives her segments more gravitas, that there are so many stories to cover, but don't worry fans, I'm here to cover them all! She seems to jump three words ahead from what the teleprompter says. Then there's the "banter" she tries with Matt and Meredith and Al. Banter as in "I'm going to say something really inappropriate right now." She often has a pained expression on her face, as if she doesn't know what question to ask next but if she looks really serious (which often involves putting her hand on her chin) she'll appear to be a "journalist."
3. Tony Harris (CNN): Also known as "the guy who looks off into space," because whenever he is doing the news, he seems to look off to the side, pausing, as if looking into a monitor. Though I think that's just his "style." He looks off to the side to show he's "thinking." The pacing of his words, his tone, his inflection...it's a really odd mixture of boredom and intense, over the top questions.
I'm sure there are more. Who do you think is a terrible news anchor? Who makes you shake your head and/or change the channel?
(Coming later this week, a list of great anchors.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-06-2007 @ 8:33PM
La-di-dah said...
I believe I know who Rick Sanchez is, and I wholeheartedly agree. Also, I am not partial to the white headed pretty boy on CNN, either, but others might disagree.
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8-06-2007 @ 2:46PM
Media Glutton said...
I totally agree: Sanchez is the worst. He did an interview this weekend with Helen Thomas where he seemed to literally do zero preparation, asking her questions like, "Boy, us journalists, we sure are important aren't we?" and "Boy, how difficult has being a journalist been for you?" Dumb, dumb, dumb...
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8-06-2007 @ 3:22PM
Mitch MacCullom said...
I disagree with Tony Harris. Tony is great and was also great locally here in Baltimore. Seems like a real person. Can't have too many of those......
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8-06-2007 @ 4:16PM
victor said...
Sanchez is awful. For the life of me, I cannot fathom how he's come to be a national anchor. He is a joke and always has been, going all the way back to his days as a local anchor here in Miami.
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8-07-2007 @ 12:08PM
phorbr said...
Totally agree. I can't believe that CNN and NBC simply can't find anchors with actual talent.
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8-06-2007 @ 4:03PM
TVGenius said...
You wanna see Ann Curry do a horrible job off the anchor chair too? Check out the lame introduction she gives a B&C HoF inductee at pappastv.com
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8-06-2007 @ 4:47PM
Barry said...
I watch Ann Curry every morning on the Today Show, and was shaking my head at each comment you made about her. You're entitled to your opinion but I've always been impressed by her style and poise. Although I'm satisfied with Meredith Viera, I was hoping Ann would get the post when Couric left. Either one would have been a vast improvement.
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8-06-2007 @ 5:14PM
DREW said...
Excellent observations... especially with Sanchez.
Tony Harris's biggest problem is his tone. It almost reminds me of a really bad car salesman commercial.
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8-06-2007 @ 5:17PM
James said...
You pick Ann Curry over CAMPBELL #@%*$@# BROWN?!?!? I will agree that Ann stumbles over her news regurgitations... often but c'mon. There has got to be a C.Brown best off reel on youtube or something. Seriously, you need to amend this list.
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8-06-2007 @ 5:55PM
Eligio J Rosa said...
Rick Sanchez Sucks!!!
I remember the interview with Charlize Theron and he looked like a-hole. He tried to look so pro-american instead he look like a jerk.
Ann Curry has some video against her if you have watch the Soup. The multiple good morning is a classic.
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8-06-2007 @ 11:10PM
Bob said...
The list should have began and ended with Rick Sanchez. Tony Harris seems like a cool guy while I’m indifferent to Ann Curry. But if the list must have 3, I'd go with:
1. Rick Sanchez
2. Kiran Chetrey (CNN)
3. Alex Witt (MSNBC)
Kiran seems like a cheerleader desperately trying to be taken seriously. Alex seems as fake as her highlights. Somebody tell her to back of the peroxide.
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8-06-2007 @ 6:39PM
Dave said...
I think they all stink. I was watching the coverage of the bridge collapse on GMA last week. I nearly farted when Diane Sawyer asked "What were you thinking when you saw the car land on top of your car?" What kind of journalism is that?
I wish one of these people that are interviewed after a tragedy would tell them off. The only time these "journalist" feel any sympathy is when something bad happens to another journalist i.e. Bob Woodruff and his exploding head or Robin Robert's breast cancer.
They are all a bunch of leeches that don't report, but just dish out the gruesome details.
America's media outlets suck the big one.
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8-06-2007 @ 10:07PM
Carle said...
Sanchez is a hack and a drunkin' douche bag. He killed a man while drunk driving in Miami where he worked on a local station. I couldn't believe CNN hired that DOUCHE BAG. Did NOTHING for THEIR credibility. I SPIT on Rick Douchez!
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8-06-2007 @ 10:53PM
LC said...
"Ann Curry has some video against her if you have watch the Soup. The multiple good morning is a classic."
And here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKvSvxhdm9c
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8-06-2007 @ 11:08PM
scott said...
I agree with your findings on sanchez, but curry and Harris aren't as bad as others you could've found. Contessa brewer and JJ Ramberg on Msnbc are really bad, and should've stayed in local markets. Alexis Glick was also a train wreak on the today show. Rita Cosby is also bad, and belongs on a "extra" type news show. Gregg jaret on Fox news is also hard to sit through. You really should revise this article because it sounds like you have never watched any cable news network and just wrote down whoever you saw when you turned on your TV. Ask any news junkie and they'll tell you that your way off. This small list is like saying a toyota is worst in quality over a Kia, meanwhile everyone's reading it thinking "shouldn't it be kia?".
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8-07-2007 @ 7:09AM
kathy said...
I love Rick Sanchez style. It is unususal & unique
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8-07-2007 @ 7:35AM
Andy said...
I don't understand how Mr. Stumbling Cooper didn't make this list. I think "like," he should've "like" made it "like," in first place; he blows big time.
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8-07-2007 @ 1:48PM
Betsy Segal said...
Any of the clowns on channel 21 in DFW. Tracy"candidness", the weather guy"the river swole...", but the sports jerk who called the team the"raptures" repeatedly rank(sic)among the top 10
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8-07-2007 @ 2:35PM
GB said...
I'm so glad that someone else thinks that Rick Sanchez is the WORST! I can't stand to watch the bumbling fool. If he's anchoring CNN, I change the channel.
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8-07-2007 @ 2:42PM
Tom said...
How about Kelly O'Donnell. She has never, completed, a full sentence, without adding, several pauses, for emphasis.
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