ABC news anchor David Muir is in Los Angeles covering the devastating fires that are burning up Los Angeles, and he made headlines on Thursday, but it wasn't for his intrepid reporting; it was for his vanity. During a news report, Muir wore what appeared to be a fireproof jacket with the ABC logo on it, but it was what was on the back of the jacket that caught viewers' attention.
When the anchor turned away from the camera, it appeared that he had wooden clothespins attached to the back of the jacket, pulling the extra fabric together to make it appear tighter. According to the New York Post, "Using clothespins to cinch clothes is a standard television styling maneuver done in lieu of more traditional and permanent tailoring."
Most online speculation suggests that Muir wanted to show off his "physique." I suppose it's possible the jacket was too big and he couldn't maneuver in it or something along those lines, but if you've ever watched Muir in action on ABC, you can tell he likes himself a lot, so I'm going to assume it was the former. Plus, after the way he treated Donald Trump during the debate back in September, I'm not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I digress.
Jack Osbourne seemed to lead the criticism against Muir, posting on X: "Nice Jacket Bro. Glad you look nice and svelte with those clothes line pegs, while our city burns to the ground."
Osbourne makes a good point. Can you imagine being a journalist going to cover such a major event that is literally killing people and taking all they have, and one of your biggest concerns is how "svelte" you look? And really, who even cares? When I'm watching a news story, I am not worried about what the reporter looks like — I'm worried about how they do their job. And I'd rather them be likable than good looking. Haven't we outgrown the idea of the perfectly coiffed news person?
All of this actually made me think about something else I read last month. Jenna Bush Hager, host of "Today," said that when she joined NBC in 2009, the network told her that she could no longer use the phrase "Hey y'all" because it wasn't "for the whole country." The Dallas, Texas native added, "But it's who I am."
That really bothered me. First of all, as a Southerner myself, it's hard not to say "y'all." Second of all, as a Southerner myself, I like to hear people on TV who talk like I do. NBC has a whole cast of journalists and anchors, and if one of them sounds like she's from Texas, then so be it. Why would they want everyone to be uniform? I'd much rather watch someone be their authentic self rather than try to fit some cookie cutter mold.
For the most part, I couldn't care less what goes on at NBC and ABC and any other major liberal media outlet, but when it comes to journalism in general, I do crave authenticity. I know there has been a lot of talk about Twitter-turned-X being the "new journalism," and I think that's one reason why people are flocking to the idea. It's not just that users have regained access to free speech for the most part; it's that they can be themselves on this platform. Many of my favorite follows don't just report on news and politics — they insert some of who they are. I think that's why people like, say, Greg Gutfeld are so wildly successful. I think that's why many of our writers here and across all of our sister sites are popular — they bring the stories of the day with a dose of their own personalities. I don't think any of us tries to be something we're not.
When I first started writing here at PJ Media a couple of months ago, I ran across something that I thought was really interesting — it was a quirky story and a break from all the nonstop election news we'd been covering. After I researched it some more, I thought maybe other people would enjoy it, so I wrote about it, and I'll never forget one of the commenters nitpicking an extremely subtle grammar mistake that did not add or subtract to the story. As a matter of fact, I asked one of our editors about it, and they told me they saw it as more of a stylistic choice. The comment didn't bother me; I just couldn't believe someone read this crazy story and that's all they got from it.
I'm human. I make grammar mistakes. I make typos. I write the way I want to, and it's served me well in my lifetime. And I think that these people on TV should aim for this as well. Shoot, if they ramped up their realness (and toned down the partisan politics), it might even help some of them rebuild their dismal ratings. Let them be authentic. Let Jenna Bush say "y'all." And for the love of everything, someone tell Muir to take those stupid clothespins off his jacket. No one cares how much time you spend in a gym, David. They just want to hear about the fires.
