Journalists, Broadcast Media

The landscape of U.S. broadcast news changed in 1971 after a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate that directed that stations needed to diversify their staffs in order to retain broadcast licenses. From 1971 to 1976, networks hired large numbers of women and men of color to meet the new requirements. Many of this early generation are still familiar names: Connie Chung, Jane Pauley, Diane Sawyer, Carole Simpson, Leslie Stahl, and Barbara Walters got their starts in national broadcast news during this period.

[Page 793]Their heirs are the well-known anchors and reporters currently in mid-career on network television news shows. In 2006, shifts in daily news shows-morning, evening, and nighttime-led to several higher profile positions for women anchors. Elizabeth Vargas briefly co-anchored the ABC evening news cast ...