Wednesday, December 26, 2001
Temptation Island
meets TV newsBulgarian television is taking the battle for ratings a step too far in having female newscasters strip as they read the news.
The booming ratings have the producers planning to add male newscasters to "The Naked Truth" on Valentine's Day.
Imagine the evening news with Tom Brokaw starting out in his suit and tie, playfully ripping off the coat as he talks of Mideast violence, tossing the tie when he recounts the tale of the hunt for bin Laden, losing the shirt when he talks of flood victims, until he's standing there in a thong to finish up with a report on a serial killer.
Worse, imagine the scene with Dan Rather.
The good news is that such a move by American television could be a boon to newspaper readership, where a byline lets you conjure up any image you want of the writer without being assailed by naked people flitting about as you try to catch a brief (no pun intended) news update.
--Charlotte Phillips