| Topic Name: |
Bill Hemmer |
| Message Name: |
He lacks on-air personality |
| Date Posted: |
05/18/2005 |
| In Reply To: |
Frankly, I don't believe that the reason CNN is offering him the WH is because he's not seasoned enough. That guy has traveled the globe, slept in tents for weeks, worked 'round the clock, and still it's not good enough?
How come nobody's complaining about Robin Roberts being named an equal co-anchor with Charles Gibson (former WH correspondent) and Diane Sawyer (former 60 Minutes correspondent)? How about Matt Lauer? Does his "Where in the World" series constitute serious reporting? Maybe it was his stint hacking lumber before WNBC asked him to do TINY. What makes Soledad O'Brien so qualified -- she co-hosted a show with a cartoon on MSNBC?
Hemmer's getting pushed aside because he has one seious flaw: he doesn't come off as an alpha male. He's soft, he's pretty, slightly effeminate, (much more so than Anderson Cooper), and he doesn't seem to register with a unique personality. A lot of times he seems to get lost in the shuffle with Soledad and Jack Cafferty, and I think his inability to act as an ANCHOR rather than a participant is what's hurting him. |
| Message: |
He lacks a distinguishable on-air personality. Think Brian Williams. They both try really hard but one comes off over the top with an exaggerated speech pattern, and the other one appears way too soft. Think Peter Jennings when he first came down from Canada (in the early 60's).
There is an easy solution to this problem. He should stick himself in Washington, covering politics, or in London or Tel Aviv (much like Peter Jennings) covering foreign affairs and build up that resume. That will build up his skills as a reporter, good for being an anchor. It will build up his knowledge base and Rolodex, which is always helpful. Most importantly, it will build a relationship between him and the audience, not as a soft morning show host, but has a hard journalist who happens to be hosting a morning show.
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