the kicker

Wait, Must John Roberts Tie?

November 25, 2008

Yesterday, Megan highlighted CNN’s reporting on the question of whether its own John Roberts should ever again appear on-air sans cravat (What do viewers say? What do tie experts say?)

Today, we can ask (and answer!) another related question: WWLAD? What Would Lee Abrams Do? (Or, what would Abrams, the Tribune Co.’s Innovation Chief, have John Roberts do?) Because, in Abrams’s latest Tribune memo, he just happens to weigh in on the topic of on-air wear. Indeed, one of Abrams’s suggestions for “blow[ing] up” TV news (in a good way):

*CASUAL STYLE: What with the suits and ties? I’m not suggesting sloppy…but business casual…maybe even eccentric as the Crime expert could be in a Columbo styled rumpled sweater.
…but CHARACTER, not straight laced uptight “TV News people”

So maybe Roberts was on the right track ditching the tie. (And, CNN folks have already been known to report in costume.)

Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.