In the early days of television broadcasting, women were not permitted on the air. When they eventually earned a spot on shows, they worked in “human interest” stories or doing sideline reports for larger stories.
Barbara Walters was the first woman to get a spot as an anchor of a major communications broadcast. Her appointment caused ripples as many people still
believed women did not have the right to be on set as anchors.
Walters has indicated that those early days were difficult. She now works only doing specials and serving as a co-host and producer of ABC’s The View. Walters says that what clothes she wore and her hair were significant decisions in those early days.
Indeed, those still are important decisions for both men and women on television, but women’s roles have expanded such that the quality of their stories now matters more than their appearance.
In today’s society, seeing women holding down anchors seats is not unheard of. In fact, there are an equal number of women on many network morning shows, evening news shows, and cable news shows. As women have gained economic power, appealing to them on television has become vitally important. Advertisers want to know that women will be watching the shows they pay to sponsor, making the idea that men are the ones who should tell the news is a concept for history now.
While women still have gains to make for equality, especially in niche areas like sports reporting, they are accepted as equal partners in news production shows. Even in sports, women are beginning to gain acceptance as desk anchors, reporting on stories they receive, rather than simply asking innocuous questions on sidelines of games. Society no longer stands for the idea that news is only good or important if it comes from a man’s mouth.