Anchors Stand and Deliver

Pat Buchanan arrived at a Washington, D.C., office building Monday for his guest appearance on CNN’s “Inside Politics.” But when he got to the 10th floor, he had a rude surprise: He was told that rather than slip in behind a desk, he had to walk up a flight of precarious, metal fire-escape stairs to the roof to do the interview standing up, overlooking a panoramic view of the city.

It took some coaxing to get him there, said CNN sources, and Buchanan confirms the story.

“When I get up on open buildings without railings, I experience an attack of vertigo,” he said. After the stair climb--where “if anybody from the street had looked up, they would have sent the cops to talk me down, thinking I’m committing suicide”--Buchanan said, “I get up on the roof and they start marching me over to the ledge, and I see my old friend [substitute anchor] Frank Sesno, standing on a suitcase that’s hollow, and they hoist me up on this hollow suitcase and say, ‘Start telling us your views about open borders.’ It was my most terrifying interview since my first one.”

CNN interview subjects had better get over their fear of heights. Two weeks ago, “Inside Politics” ditched its desk in favor of a series of outdoor locations, including the roof. Anchor Judy Woodruff now stands, after changing into a pair of flat shoes to make the roof climb, which is impossible in high heels.

She’s not the only one on her feet. Colleague Bill Hemmer started doing his “First Evening News” standing up, inside, at the beginning of July. Two weeks ago, “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather began standing to introduce the “Eye on America” segment. So far, ABC’s “World News Tonight” anchor Peter Jennings has mostly perched on a stool to introduce a “Closer Look” segment, but producers are toying with something different that might have him standing.

There’s not a shortage of chairs and desks in TV news land; the new stand-up routines are part of the ongoing quest by programs to say “watch me, watch me,” as viewers surf through myriad channel choices. Even some sports analysts, such as those on NBC’s pro basketball pregame show, have adopted a standing-up style most common previously among weathercasters.

Whether the changes are meaningful or simply a gimmick is open to debate; with everyone standing, “soon, someone will have to do the news lying down to stand out,” quips one producer.

Rather, who stands in order to highlight the “Eye on America” segment, first stood for a period in 1989, saying it helped his vocalization, but then just as quickly sat back down. The current game of musical chairs started in early 1996, when “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw stood up.

A few people, such as Fox News Channel’s Shepard Smith, followed his lead, but the past year has been the breakthrough. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer started standing outside in November, and MSNBC’s daytime anchors began walking around to break up the nonstop coverage of the postelection quagmire. CNN’s afternoon anchor Joie Chen began standing in February, sometimes in the control room. More CNN anchors are expected to go mobile as the kinks in a new studio are worked out.

Then-”NBC Nightly News” executive producer David Doss, who now runs ABC’s “PrimeTime Thursday,” noted that the way Americans got information had changed dramatically, with the arrival of the Internet and cable, but evening newscasts hadn’t budged. So at the same time the show changed the substance and number of stories, it also made cosmetic fixes, deciding, as Doss recalled, “There would be no desk, and Tom would be in front of a tremendously creative graphic video wall. Our hope was that people flipping around would see that and want to see what’s going on here.”

Having an anchor stand removes a barrier between the viewer and also frees up much of the screen for other video and data, said Dennis Murray, executive producer of Fox’s daytime shows. CNN has taken it to the extreme with Hemmer’s show, whose massive video screen dwarfs the anchor.

A standing anchor often means “a more energized program,” Doss said. “It’s not unique to anchors; people standing up seem to have more energy, vitality, urgency.”

“You’re literally on your toes more,” says CNN’s Woodruff, adding that by being out in the world, “I feel more a part of what’s going on, rather than insulated in an isolated studio.

“It’s no secret that I have no affection for the studio here; it’s not a great look,” Woodruff added. When she met incoming CNN News Group Chairman Walter Isaacson two weeks ago, she lobbied for a change, and it was put in the works the next day.

Other CNN anchors will soon stand, said Sue Bunda, senior vice president of CNN/U.S. “When you’re on the air 24 hours a day, it’s so important how you present the material; pacing and variety and breadth of reporting are all important,” she said. Yet because of the need for variety, “I can’t imagine a scenario where we would do it for 24 hours.” There have been no discussions about having Larry King stand, for one.

“If everyone starts to stand, it diminishes that little bit of difference,” said Paul Slavin, executive producer of ABC’s “World News Tonight.” “In general, I don’t think it does a thing,” added Jim Murphy, executive producer of the “CBS Evening News.” “As one famous Broadway producer said, ‘Nobody ever left humming the set.’ At the same time, little tiny things are all a part of the production side of this business.”

The difficulties are largely technical: figuring out where to put a TelePrompTer, getting the lighting right and fussing with finicky wireless audio connections. Then there’s the question of notes. CNN’s Woodruff said she has become “a bag lady,” trundling her extra shoes and research files to the remote locations and settling on a clipboard to hold notes that once were discreetly hidden on the desk.

Guests may be the biggest issue. “So far, they’ve been good sports,” Woodruff said, but she worries that the roof locale will “prevent us from having interesting people with significant disabilities.”

Buchanan, a former co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire,” is one guest not eager to go back. “I still bear great loyalty to my old network, CNN,” he said, “but that is above and beyond the call of duty.”