Powder puff journalist: is a female television broadcast news journalist that spends more time in a make-up chair then on the air.

 

Entangle this for me, a well-known male celebrity, known to be balding or bald appears in a commercial as himself in a full toupee. The product marketing manager is convinced, a bald headed man cannot sell this product even one known to be bald must appear with a full head of hair. The public will never accept a product indorsement from a bald headed man nor would it seem news from an unadorned female, hence, the birth of the powder puff journalist…

A few years ago if one said they were going to give their story to a ‘journalist’, ‘journalist’ was not considered gender-specific. Then along came powder-puff journalist in theatrical make-up so Rush Limbaugh came up with a term to best describe them, ‘info babe’, it seems to be sticking…

When walking down the street coming upon an elderly person your memory banks displays an image of an elderly person and that is that, however, if the image of this elderly person is distorted, meaning the skin, posture and hair color does not match what has been stored, the image before you appears ‘odd’. Acquaintance will only marvel at how well this person looks and choose not to see the oddity. Even when this person looks into a looking glass sees only what they want to see, not the oddity. A person over fifty has the posture, skin of the elderly, dyed hair brings on the oddity as if a tween had gray hair hence the ‘oddity’ of appearance. Few elderly no matter how much cosmetic surgery and hair dye can avoid appearing as and ‘oddity’, look around you can tell who they are…are you one too?

During the upcoming graduation season over a hundred eager women will be hoping to enter the broadcast news industry as ‘on air talent’, here are just a few things they will have to look forward to in no unceremonious order. At the bottom of the totem pole will be their educational qualifications, how they appear on paper which will get them into the door, nothing more. There are a lot of other steps as they move up to the top to consider I see no urgent need to list them here it can be figured out later much of it for them yourselves. So at the top of the pole is appearance. Are you willing to lighten the color of your hair, or wear a straight haired wig if asked to? Are you averse to applying an adhesive to your eyelids? Do you mind fetching coffee? Since you will be starting in a small media market and have to apply your own make-up are you well-schooled in the sluttish look? Practice the greasy lip look in your social life to see how much attention it can generate without offending.  Tight fitting clothing will be a must, along with long hours and most weekends. When delivering a stand up piece in the studio wear high hills. Upper and lower flawless teeth (not required by some males) a plus. Those well-endowed upper body types need not apply.

Who is responsible for this theatrical encroachment into the once all male conservative establishment, not who, but what? Color television, as the males started to puff up with loud colored ties and sport jackets. In brief, what other embodiment to this soup was needed to bring the newsroom up to equal rights standards, women. Women in full blown theatrical make-up and more puff then most men are allowed to display on television. What is puzzling to me is that some women taking a close look at the current broadcast news scene, see women displayed as fancy, posh, flamboyant, samples of a serious male journalist, put up with it and for less money too…Well the answer may be, ‘one does what one has to, to enter and then survive’…

A few years ago I wrote a post on the male to female ratio of panelist/contributors on the Morning Joe television show, what prompted the post, one show had nineteen males no females.  For weeks whenever the occasion called for the mention of the show I referred to it as Morning Male. In recent months the show has managed to include at the very least one female in most segments, however, the male to female ratio is still grossly out of whack. The show has taken steps to improve its female numbers, the last moments of some shows one can find an all-female, check that most, female panelist…progress?

If you engage in benevolent goodwill, politics, communications, all noble endeavors, in two or more at the same time must not be shocked when the image of ‘appearance of impropriety’ rears its ugly head. It has been proven many times its arduous to serve more than two masters at the same time…

Yesterday I listened to Hardball with The President as a guest. I say listened because MSNBC is notorious for superfluous use of the annoying split screen, wanted to avoid the distraction of ‘image repetition’, over all quite enjoyable and informative…

You accidently just shot and killed a man…what are you going to do now? You’re going where?

If you are a broadcast news reporter member of an ethic group not prone for rosy facial cheeks appeared on camera with them should apologize to the viewers for your clown face and beg forgiveness. And oh yes, for the greasy lips too…

All over the world there is little evidence of aboriginal or indigenous if you prefer, people who occupied a landmass for centuries and left so small of a footprint upon the land one would be hard pressed to find perceptible evidence of their tangible existence. Manhattan Island, ‘Historically documented to have been purchased by Dutch colonists from Native Americans in 1626 for the equivalent of US$24’, (according to Wikipedia). Upon learning of the purchase modern people seem to bring on a laugh track and how the Native Americans were swindled, not so when it is understood that in the culture of most indigenous people, land cannot be owned that it belongs to The Great Spirit, Heavenly Father or Deity and was created for use and not ownership. In the eyes of Native Americans they swindled the colonists, like selling the Brooklyn Bridge today, and that has been done in these modern times. But the point of this post is to note how little damage to the environment was left by the most primitive of peoples after centuries of use, living on and with mother earth and the continuing damage being done by the enlighten advance of modern civilization today. I fear that the aim of space travel will change from total exploration to urgent emigration. The air and water is being defiled as manufacturing continues on the cheap because to do otherwise is too expensive. I’m told I must stop here as my blood pressure has hit the outer limits of good health…more in a later post…