Welcome to the Post-Truth era, where bias looms above facts as more entertaining and therefore, more profitable. According to the Oxford Dictionary, post-truth is defined as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” The word finds its origin in 1992, but increased in usage by about two thousand percent in 2016. What resulted is a 24-hour news cycle with often editorialized pieces and evident slants in speech. News anchors on live television need to work with scripts more conversational than ever in order to keep viewership high. Beyond using conversational scripts, anchors need to act natural and human while informing the people about intense news. It was my turn to give it a try as I anchored for the first time ever Jan. 29 with junior Theodore Rackauskas.
Now for some background on my experience with being talent on live television. In fifth grade I was on Embassy Creek Elementary School’s broadcast team for fourth quarter. The first time I went on air I read one line, looked at the camera, choked and began crying. It wasn’t pretty. Now, five years later, I faced the camera with a new confidence and hope in my eyes.
After interviewing people for the past four years, cameras and the thought of many watching did not seem to phase me. In fact, I felt an increase in elation over getting camera time. With most of my time in class being spent on listening intently to others or staying quiet to finish work, there was something moving about knowing all eyes were on me– my voice was heard. Since I wrote the script for my first time anchoring on WAHS News, I felt very confident working with the words on the teleprompter. Quirky jokes I added to make it feel more natural actually carried through, and my personality seemed to blend well with the words I wrote.
Most of my friends described their first anchoring experience as nerve-racking, but for me, the nerves kicked in after going on air. However, the nerves were more of excitement and pride than fear. Anchoring changed me. Now I can walk through the halls with my head held high and know I made it on our local television.
See me
