I am writing this month’s column on my laptop while sitting by the pool at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua, Maui, HI. I know...life is tough sometimes.
Excuse me just a second—the pool waitress is bringing me another Blue Hawaiian and I need to tip her.
Ok, I’m back. It’s hard to rant about something while I am sitting in paradise, but I will try my best.
I have not watched a lot of local news while here in Maui, but what I have watched is very different from what you see on the mainland. Many of the stations’ anchors wear Hawaiian shirts while anchoring the news. No coat, no tie. Just an open shirt with some loud colors and crazy print.
I don’t know about you, but I found it hard to take the anchor seriously when they were dressed like that. When I was in Maui, the big news was a murder—a guy was shot at a public golf course (that’s why I joined a country club, public golf courses are so dangerous).
Anyway, the anchor is giving me the details, but he looks like my neighbor getting ready to grill up some burgers by the pool. Until I watched the newscasts here, I guess I never really thought about how anchors dressed.
A buddy of mine was in LA on business recently, and he could not get over how much cleavage many of the female anchors showed on the newscasts. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t complaining. It just jumped out at him (pardon the pun) when he turned on LA’s local news.
I guess if you live in LA or Hawaii it all seems normal to you when you watch the news. But to an outsider, it’s strange.
I now wonder, when Hawaiian anchors send out résumé tapes to news directors on the mainland, how weird it must look to the NDs when they watch the tapes.
Then again, if I had a good gig in Hawaii, I wouldn’t be looking for another job in the 48 anyway.
Hang on just a sec, I need to make a tee time for this afternoon at the Plantation Course...
Back again...sorry there are just so many distractions here in Hawaii, I don’t know how anyone gets anything done.
Many times you hear people say that all news anchors are alike. They sit at a plastic desk, with plastic hair, in front of a plastic cutout of the city and deliver plastic news. It’s the same in every market.
I am here to tell you that’s not true! Oh sure...the plastic stuff might be true, but the clothes are very different from market to market.
I would love to tell you more, but my massage appointment is in five minutes.
Don’t forget to dress for success, but just remember where you are before you pick out your clothes. Oh and watch yourself on the golf course, there’s a murderer on the loose.
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