The Colbert Report's Stephen Colbert has created a mock campaign to end wrist violence after he broke his left one during a June taping. One U.S. anchor won't join in.
Brian Williams, the “NBC Nightly News” anchor, and Katie Couric, the “CBS Evening News” anchor, both played along. But Charles Gibson, anchor of ABC’s “World News,” did not, and some media observers interpreted his recalcitrance as a statement that real news shows are not to be conflated with parodies.
Unlike Mr. Williams or Ms. Couric, Mr. Gibson has never appeared on either Mr. Colbert’s show or on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
“It’s a test,” said Rachel Sklar, the media editor of The Huffington Post. “If you play along, you’re funny and cool, and if you don’t, you’re stiff and boring. How people like Brian Williams and Katie Couric react to him are an indication of what they are really like — their instinctive reactions are measures of their good humor and authenticity and humanity.”
I would remind people of this April blog posting about Mr. Gibson, which excerpts from another NYT story:
Network anchors often behave as if they are the nation’s grief counselors. One reason that Mr. Gibson has been gaining in the ratings could be that he acts like the nation’s newsman.