Really, a woman getting a top job shouldn't be a big deal. But that hasn't stopped the appointment of Diane Sawyer as ABC's main news presenter – which means that two of the "big three" US anchors will be women – causing more than a few ripples.
Five years ago, the essential accessory for fronting an American flagship news programme appeared to be a tie, as Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw – all over 60 – fought it out nightly on ABC, CBS and NBC. Now, with Sawyer following in the footsteps of CBS's Katie Couric, who became the big three's first solo woman anchor three years ago, it appears that being male is no longer an essential part of the job description.
Whether the same can be said for the UK, however, is rather a moot point. It's not as if there are no high-profile female newsreaders and journalists – Kirsty Wark, Fiona Bruce, Emily Maitlis, Kay Burley and Julie Etchingham all spring to mind, among others. But it seems no matter how far female news broadcasters rise up the ladder, much of the debate around them will be focused on their looks.
Couric and Sawyer are not immune from this – but their seniority perhaps negates to some extent the constant questions about their looks, age, hair and make-up, and inexperience, that seems to dominate discussion about women newsreaders. Remember the furore when Natasha Kaplinsky began her reported £1m contract with Channel Five? Do you think that would that have happened if she wasn't a woman?
None of that, of course, is the main topic of debate when it comes to male presenters. Then it's a question of how well they do the job. Which is the right question to be asking, of a newsreader, I would think. Whether they are a woman or not.
