Art of Manliness - Latest Comments in This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

DRay — Wed, 20 May 2015 11:13:34 -0000

Unlike 99.9% of the post on this page, this one was quite bothersome. He places folks in the "Hall of Shame" for their partisanship, yet above has their rivals, just as partisan, in the manly hall of fame. People like Jon Stewart have been extremely left leaning, and not afraid to show it. He may make a few wise cracks about the left, but when he actually gets down to it, he only attacks Republicans in a serious manner. The first poorly written article I've found on here. This web page is usually fair, I may not like all the people on the posts, but they were always fair and with a valid point, but this one was just sad.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

John Slade — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 06:16:51 -0000

I agree with this list. Jon Stewart is authentic, funny, and ballsy. He consistently hits both sides equally as hard. I also like Anderson Cooper very much. No one knows very much about where the man stands lol. That's the point of journalism. Also, I think it's very manly to come out of the closet and be who you are. That takes courage.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Johnny the Freemason — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:28:32 -0000

I agree with the entirety of the list with the exception of Steven Colbert. While unmanly he may be we must keep in mind, unlike the others on the unmanly schmuck list portion, Colbert is playing a character for the sake of humor. The others are merely caricatures of their respective puppeteers..... and just flippant dolts in general.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

marcel bradet — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:49:55 -0000

THE PEOPLE ASK FOR BULLSHIT YOU GIVE THEM BULLSHIT, THE POLITICS IS IN USA THE WORST OF ALL, WITH THE LOBBYING AND AN AMERICAN IS SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A PART OF SOCIETY IS THE SOCIETY HIMSELF THE REST OFTHE CITIZENS CAN'T SURVIVE, IS NOT HIS FAMILY, THE SELFISH AMERICAN IS THERE, AND DO NOT TALK ABOUT BLACK, SPANIST AND OTHER RACIE A WASP IS BETTER THAN ANOTHER RACE OF THE WORLD. IS READY TO GO THE PREACHER WITH ALL HIS FAMILY THE HYMS AND READ THE BIBLE OR ELSE BUT DO NOT ASK TO PRACTICE WHAT HE READ, HE IS EXACTLY A MEN OR FEMALE OF THE LOWER EXTRACTION, DO NOT ASK IF THE REST OR PEOPLE OF THE WORLD LOVE THE WAY THEY USE THEIR POVER NO ONE LIKE THEM AND MANY PRAY FOR THAT THEY LOUSE IN IRAQ AND WITH THE TALIBANS, THEY ARE 50% ASSHOLE WHEN A COUNTRY HAVE VOTE FOR BUSH WE KNOW THEIR INTELLECT BACKGROUNG, IS THIS MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY AND THE REST NOT NECESSARY AND THEY THINK THAT THEY ARE THE NATION CHOOSE GOD IS NOT AN AMERICAN, AND IF GOD WAS, THE NEXT THING HE WILL DO IT IS A WAR, SO PLEASE STAY IN YOUR COUNTRY WE DO NOT WANT YOU, STAY IN YOUR TOWNS AND MAKE WAR WITH THE OTHER STATE, AND TO SHOW THE WORST OF IT, A BLACK PRESIDENT IS FOR YOU A SPOT ON YOUR WHITE SUPREMACY, WHATCH YOUR BACK AND PAY FOR IT, YOU ARE NOT LOVE LIKE THE ROMANS WHERE NOT ALSO AND THE FALL OF THE ROMAN CAME AND YOU ARE PRESENTLY IN THE RIGHT PATH, BECAUSE, YOUR COUNTRY IS NOT YOURS, YOUR COUNTRY IS SAOUD, CHINESSE, AND OTHER COUNTRY WHO BACK YOU, IN THE NEXT CENTURY, THE 22TH, CHANGE WILL OCCUR SO FAST THAT YOU SEE SOME INDIVIDUALS THAT WHO OWN YOUR COUNTRY IN WALL STREET. I PREFER TO BE A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD THAT AN AMERICAN WITH THIS NARROW MINDED SPIRIT AND ATTITUDE. A PAIN IN THE ASS FOR THE OTHER.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Dan — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:29:19 -0000

you want manly look no further than Dan Rather, he composed himself well while we were taking fire, he gets my bid.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Christatos — Mon, 25 May 2009 22:17:15 -0000

I met Mr. Murrow when I was a small boy in 1964 only a year before he died. It was an ugly sight, and only a year after he had an operation to have one lung removed. Weak and dying, I was only able to see him over the course of a single day because my father knew him from his days broadcasting during the Blitz, as my father had worked in British Intelligence or the British Army or something like that during the Blitz, and had become a smoking acquaintance of Murrow's and was determined to see him before he died. Even then, when I was a boy, and as the man was dying, I knew he was a great man. The day he died was the only time in my entire life that I saw my father cry. All my childhood I had been raised with stories of Edward R Murrow, the great American, and the rest of my childhood those stories continued, and the impressions has remained. Edward R. Murrow was the model upon which other journalists should base their careers.

As for bias in this article, I think you are all being a little narrow minded. Refer back to the Murrow Boys and their contemporaries. What made these men great was not any pretensions to presenting the facts in a balanced sense, but telling the truth, speaking their opinions, and not hiding the fact. Each of these men is great for presenting the facts, telling you what they thing, and not hiding the fact that they are telling you their opinion. A poor newsman tells you he is fair. That is a lie. A great newsman tells you the truth. Each of these men did or does that. Where their opinion comes from, right or left is irrelevant. They tell you. You know what to filter. With the liars, you can't be sure which direction to turn. I ask, before you attack, that you return to Murrow, and consider journalism and the historical roots of the craft and it's original purpose on television.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Magnus Ver Magnuson — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:39:25 -0000

Pretty lame. If Anderson Cooper is a model of manliness I have some serious thinking to do.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

DC — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:38:03 -0000

Major ommissions on this list include Paul Harvey, Ed Bradley, and the greatest voice ever: Bill Kurtis.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

NewsGuy — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:55:22 -0000

...and they are all WHITE! (even the afke ones). What about Bernard Shaw of CNN (hunkered down in that hotel in Baghdad while the bombs were landing) or Max Robinson of ABC or Bryant Gumbel of NBC and HBO or Ed Bradley of CBS 60 Minutes (now he was the coolest anchor ever!)....

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Jones — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:34:13 -0000

Here's an interesting article comparing Jon Stewart and Edward R. Murrow:

http://www.thenation.com/do...

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

fideli — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:43:28 -0000

Wanted to suggest a couple manly Colbert moments: watch the 2006 Whitehouse correspondents dinner and the 60 minutes Colbert interview.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

ramirez — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:12:08 -0000

"i stabbed a man in the heart with a trident."

if THATS not what real journalism is all about, i don't know what is.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Robert Scott — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:04:08 -0000

Most honest person ever on TV, Mr. Hugh Downs. I will never forget Brokaw reporting election returns, and he said "When we take Iowa", Old-marble mouth really bared his leftist feelings. Rather and Brokaw what a pair of fair-minded journalists.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Evan Mathews — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:24:18 -0000

Some of these guys are men and some are not. Remember, just because some of these guys are mentioned on the net in a blog does not make it so.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Shar — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:38:05 -0000

Stephen Colbert is more of a MAN! Than this website will ever BE! So he likes dungeons and dragons so do I. What is wrong with that, and lord of the rings too I love the movies, and I donot like to read either, but he reads the news everyday! And he is better than Jon Stewart more tonque and cheek than him that is just his character. Who knows who the real Stephen Colbert is? But to call him NOT MANLY I wag my finger at you.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Brett — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:47:59 -0000

"Sean Hannity (taken as your first example in Hall of Shame) never anchored a news broadcast. Bill O’Reilly hasn’t anchored a news broadcast on Fox News either (he may have on a prior network). They’re paid for their commentary.

Contrast that to Mssrs. Matthews & Olbermann who have anchored recent party conventions and other events. The respective networks of these commentators call themselves unbiased, but that clearly is meant to mean their news reporting, not in the commentary; one cannot often comment in an unbiased manner."

I respectfully submit that you are again narrowly defining the term "anchorman" and "news broadcast," and then criticizing the article based on this personal definition. Note that this article is not about the manliest "newsmen" or "news casters" or "new reporters." It's about anchormen. Anchormen anchor a program related to the news. If Hannity and O'Reilly don't anchor a "news broadcast" than I'm not sure what they do. Yes they don't just report the news, but their whole show is based on them commenting on the news. The shows are based entirely around the news and their take on the news-is that not a news broadcast? While it's true that people still associate "anchormen" with the old nightly news broadcasts, there are a whole array of news shows these days that could clearly be said to be anchored by the hosts.

And it's not just the networks that say they are unbiased, so it cannot be that they are simply referring to their news reporting and not these men's commentary as you argue. O'Reilly boldly declares that his show is in the "No Spin Zone" and presents himself and his program as fair and balanced-as the most fair and balanced place to get the news. To say such things, but to clearly have a bias lands a anchorman in the Hall of Shame.

I understand that debate and commentary help these shows do well in the ratings and I honestly have no beef with having these things in a news-based program. But there can be debate and commentary that doesn't involve yelling over guests and exuding an unmanly and unprofessional smugness and disdain for those who disagree with you.

At any rate, Charlie, while I disagree with your criticism, I do understand what you're saying and respect that point of view, even if we don't see eye to eye.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Jay Archibald — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:41:25 -0000

From north of the border, Canada-way, don't forget Peter Mansbridge, who has been the voice of the nation and the CBC since May of 1988. Calm, cool, and professional, he carries the weight of the news with grace and dignity.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Charlie on PA Tpk — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:42:25 -0000

The anchors in the Hall of Shame on the other hand purport to be doing a serious news show. Again, it’s true that their shows are a mix of news and commentary, but they advertise and label themselves as the best places to get the real news about what’s going on and as places to get the most fair and unbiased news.

Before I go further, I enjoy AoM, and am not suggesting I would stop reading it.

That said: you're again blurring the lines between news and commentary. Sean Hannity (taken as your first example in Hall of Shame) never anchored a news broadcast. Bill O'Reilly hasn't anchored a news broadcast on Fox News either (he may have on a prior network). They're paid for their commentary.

The fact remains: news alone doesn't sell well on TV, not any longer at least. Case in point: remember when CNN's Headline News was just that: 30 minutes of news, followed by another 30 mins, etc. 24 hrs a day?. Without commentary programs - mixed with a healthy dose of debate - the networks would probably pull lower ratings (again: O'Rielly will debate with people, Olbermann only has people who parrot his views; guess who wins in the ratings?). So long as their news programs are unbiased, that will keep them true to their slogans.

Giving one’s opinion or commentary isn’t a problem (which is why Stewart made the list)-it’s how you do it.

You're right; back in the day, the true Anchormen gave their opinions with a chyron saying it was an editorial or an opinion (much like the Editorial page of a newspapers is distinct from the front page -- or at least ought to be). Now, anchors drop subtle and not-so-subtle views into their copy (See Walter Cronkite on "setting the agenda"). If they took the time to editorialize in a proper fashion, I'd give them respect; otherwise, they blur their own lines and deserve none from me.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Jack — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:00:20 -0000

Where's Rush Limbaugh and Paul Harvey? Rush is especially versed in "the art of manliness."

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Brett — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:25:49 -0000

@Justin-

Thanks. And thanks for couching you comments in a reasonable manner. Constructive criticism and comments are always welcome.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Justin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:14:54 -0000

@Brett: Fair enough. Either way, love the blog, keep up the good work.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Brett — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:12:57 -0000

@Justin-

Stewart anchors a comedy program and as such, sarcasm is appropriate. The anchors in the Hall of Shame on the other hand purport to be doing a serious news show. Again, it's true that their shows are a mix of news and commentary, but they advertise and label themselves as the best places to get the real news about what's going on and as places to get the most fair and unbiased news. And they don't deliver that. If they're going to make such claims to seriousness, then they should carry themselves in a way that underscores their purpose. Stewart delivers an awful lot of snark, but he doesn't pretend to be anything but a comedy program. I will admit that Stewart can get way too smug and snarky-to the point that I actually flip the channel sometimes to avoid it. But he is one of the few people in the media that actually calls politicians and other media types out on their BS, and so while he isn't perfect (an none of the anchors listed were), on the whole he deserves some accolades.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Justin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:46:01 -0000

@Brett: I'm just confused as to how Stewart, the most blatantly sarcastic of all (even if in jest), was in the "manly" section while sarcasm was listed as one of the negative characteristics in the Hall of Shame.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Jim — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 09:55:16 -0000

"I’m constantly surprised by AoM’s contingent of hard core curmudgeon readers" wow, Brett, way to insult your readers. Nice.

Re: This Just In…..The 11 Manliest Anchormen of All Time

Kevin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:08:54 -0000

John Stewart's interview of Jim Cramer has got to go down as one of the most significant interviews of this generation, if only because it took a goofy news show to expose the shady double-dealings on Wall Street. Where are our manly (real) newsmen to shed light on these financial shenanigans?

Stewart stepped up. Give him his props, people.