Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, page 1

When I was a kid two reporters handled the local news broadcast, the news guy and the weather guy. The earliest ones I remember were Don Owen and Al Bolton on KSLA, Channel 4, in Shreveport, LA. I even remember running into Don Owen at the local dime store, TG&Y, once. I must have been about four or five.

Later, sports became popular enough to warrant adding a third reporter, the sports guy and for a very long time that was it. Not only that but the news programs were a whopping fifteen minutes long and later the evening news was lengthened to thirty minutes.

Then, while I wasn't watching things got weird. Local evening news could no longer be handled in thirty minutes. It took a full hour and usually that hour was wrapped around the network national news.

I do understand to some degree the entertainment factor in news reporting, but what I don't yet understand after all these years is the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum model of news reading. You know what I'm speaking of. Most local news casts have two anchors, usually one male and one female and neither is capable of reading more than one sentence in succession. One begins with a sentence and the other finishes with another before cutting away to some footage and a field reporter.

Why is this? Is it really necessary? Was it a ploy to get women into the news business without having to fire the all the men with seniority? If so, do we still need it?

Personally, I find it annoying and wish that it would stop. What say ye?

[edit on 2006/3/23 by GradyPhilpott]