Say what you will about local TV news personalities (lord knows I have), but you can't say that Liz Crenshaw fits any of the preconceived notions associated with the Anchorman-mimicked bunch.
As she burst into the classroom, clad in all-black and running 5 minutes late, her sense of self-esteem was literally tangible. Not only that, but she knew how to command an audience. And she has to, as she noted, because what use is investigating and reporting if nobody cares about what you've found?
Does that justify the ubiquitous newsperson I-am-going-to-emph-a-size-eevveerrryy-word manner of speaking that so noticeably dominates television news? Of that I'm not so sure, but I do know that Liz Crenshaw knew what she was talking about - so I'll trust her judgment on this one.
Liz is a "consumer reporter". That means that she's the one who does the pieces on why your iron keeps burning your clothes, how to best cook something in the microwave, or (her personal favorite) why people's dishes have all of a sudden been coming out of the dishwasher cloudy.
I know it sounds like puff-work, yet somehow Liz, with her grandiose manner of prancing about the room and forceful, intimidatingly serious presence, made baby-monitor safety tips sound like the most important story of the day.
She had a lot of great tips for us and was extremely blunt in her responses - a method of communication I'm incredibly fond of. If you want to be on-air, you can't be offended by personal criticisms, she warned, not about your hair, your makeup, clothes, mannerisms or voice.
I'm out.
She also touched upon less superficial topics - like man-on-the-street interviews, how to put a new spin on an old story, and how to get a job - and keep it. Liz was, and is, a definite go-getter, and she doesn't let other people do the work for her (or so it seemed, though I imagine that those truly talented at taking credit for other peoples' successes are, well, ... trained at taking credit for other peoples' successes. I'm not going anywhere with this one - just rambling)
She even had a great story about how she, as an intern (or lower level employee, same difference), was featured in the Washington Post for making NBC-4 the first news outlet to have an eyewitness account of the Pope's shooting immediately after it occurred. She had the idea, she made the call, she spoke to the woman - making the local network the envy of all the heavy hitters.
No biggy.
I do that at my internship all the time. Seriously - the bureau practically bows to me as I enter in the morning. I'm that good.
Anyho0o0o..that's that in the world of TV news talent. I guess all anchormen aren't like Will Farrell, kinda like how all vampires aren't sexy.
(Just the ones on TV... totally misrepresents the species).
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