Transcript
OTM Spectrum: Paula Zahn
January 12, 2002
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And now, in recognition that news events sometimes engender opposing points of view, we bring you the first edition of our occasional series, the OTM Spectrum. Today's subject, the CNN promo featuring anchor Paula Zahn which the network pulled last week over sexism concerns.
ANNOUNCER:...find a morning news anchor who's provocative, super smart -- oh, yeah -- and just a little sexy? [NEEDLE ON RECORD SCRATCH] CNN! Yeah! CNN. Paula Zahn hosts American Morning starting Monday, 7 Eastern -- that's right - on CNN.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Bob, there's a spectrum of opinion on this. Why don't you stake out a position?
BOB GARFIELD:All right, Brooke, I will. What millennium are we living in? Is it possible that in the year 2002 a news network with such reach and influence could advertise its journalists as sex objects? What is Paula Zahn, a chorus girl? A pinup babe with a lavalier mike clipped on? To portray her as "a little bit sexy" is more than a little bit sexist, trivializing the journalistic skills that won her her role on CNN and before that on CBS and Fox. She is diminished by the effort, and CNN along with her.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: All right. And now from the other end of the spectrum -- Bob.
BOB GARFIELD:Thank you, Brooke. Gimme a break here, all right? CNN has produced the first entirely candid anchor promo in history, and it's taking grief over it? Paula Zahn is a perfectly serviceable journalist. I've worked with her many times, and she's got plenty of talent. But I'm here to tell you that if she weren't "a little bit sexy" she'd be doing something else for a living. There's only one CNN, but every TV news operation under the sun is the fox network.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Thank you, Bob. That was-- irritating.
BOB GARFIELD: You're very welcome. [MUSIC TAG]