Waking Up In News America
1986
In 1984, the CBS Morning News program began looking for a woman newscaster to team up with the male anchor Bill Kurtis. The artist Robert Heinecken was hired as a consultant to help research the most compatible pair.
To raise ratings, the network decided the female anchor should be "attractive, sensual, intelligent and professional" but also appear as a dutiful partner in her interaction with Kurtis, "to convey a sense of marital stability to the female audience." Heinecken created hybrid images to assess the telegenic compatibility of different matches and ultimately Phyllis George was chosen as the female anchor woman. The artist's blurry images of other female contenders and the superimposed texts seen here reflect on a process that was inextricably linked to stereotype and bias.
Offset lithograph
26 x 38 in. (66 x 96.5 cm)
Gift of the artist
86.128
Provenance: Gift of the artist 1986