Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Sawyer Nabbed Anchor Job by 'Waiting Around'

Passage of time has 'smoothed bumps on her resumé'

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 6, 2009 6:59 AM CDT
Email

(Newser) – What Diane Sawyer has achieved as the second female solo news anchor is “more subtle” than Katie Couric’s ascendancy, writes Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times. Sawyer “is a gorgeous, glamorous television personality who got to the top job by waiting around,” Stanley notes. It has smoothed “bumps in her résumé that at one time seemed insurmountable.”

For instance, she went straight from working with Richard Nixon to working at CBS News at a time “when the line between journalism and government was virtually inviolate," Stanley writes. The problem with waiting is that women are becoming the majority of network news anchors just as the programs are losing “relevance and prestige,” she notes. “As in other fields, women seem to break through the glass ceiling just as the air-conditioning is being turned off in the penthouse office suites.”

In this image released by CBS, CBS News anchor Katie Couric rehearses for Election Night of Presidential Campaign 2008 on Friday, Oct. 31, 2008, in New York.
In this image released by CBS, CBS News anchor Katie Couric rehearses for Election Night of Presidential Campaign 2008 on Friday, Oct. 31, 2008, in New York.   (AP Photo/CBS, John P. Filo)
Television journalist Diane Sawyer pauses in front of the American Irish Historical Society where the body of Natasha Richardson lies in repose, Friday, March 20, 2009, in New York.
Television journalist Diane Sawyer pauses in front of the American Irish Historical Society where the body of Natasha Richardson lies in repose, Friday, March 20, 2009, in New York.   (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
Good Morning America co-host Diane Sawyer arrives for Walter Cronkite's funeral in July at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York.
"Good Morning America" co-host Diane Sawyer arrives for Walter Cronkite's funeral in July at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York.   (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Diane Sawyer attends the premiere of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in New York earlier this year.
Diane Sawyer attends the premiere of "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" in New York earlier this year.   (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, file)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
schmidtkoff
Sep 6, 2009 7:19 AM CDT
sawyer is too good for network news. that she settles for a dying venue does nothing to detract from her professionalism. just as she waited for this she will also be waiting for a more lucrative offer that will make her shine even more. one step at a time.
youngblood
Sep 6, 2009 4:57 AM CDT
Blah, blah, blah...

 
Katie Couric • women • ABC News • Diane Sawyer • news anchor • television news

More Newser Stories

Not So Fast, ABC: Giffords Interview Never Confirmed

Couric to Co-Host The View

Katie Couric Signs Off on CBS

CBS Replaces Katie Couric With Scott Pelley

ABC News Chief Stepping Down
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne