The consultants who brought you this style of broadcast (the name Frank Magid comes to mind, rightly or wrongly) are the founders of the modern news-team concept, with the salt-and-pepper and/or Ken and Barbie anchors, the bombastic sports anchor, the "Wednesday's Child" tearjerker, the hi-tech weather (replacing the genial and/or madcap non-meteorological weatherman), the traffic copter, the report on the panda's toothache... All delivered with an egalitarian gravitas:
(satellite footage of ailing panda ends)
Barbie: Oh, that poor panda! Those darn toothaches!
Ken: Interesting! I just saw my dentist last week and...
(satellite footage of demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur ends)
Ken: Oh, those darn demonstrators!
Barbie: Yes, quite an interesting demonstration! Coming up: Jack has the sports...
It spread, at some point, to network television's morning shows, though I'm not quite sure when.
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