Caught in a Snowstorm

Swipe: Jon Snow
The Weekender

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Jon Snow has lambasted rival newsreaders for their lack of journalistic experience.

The veteran Channel 4 news presenter said he was dismayed and alarmed at the number who had spent little or no time reporting in the field.

In the past, TV bulletins were fronted by experienced journalists - such as Sir Alastair Burnet, Michael Buerk, Jeremy Bowen and Sandy Gall, he said. But today's newsreaders tended to have little understanding of reporting and a fear of stepping outside the comfort of the studio.

Although Snow, 58, did not name names, the steady rise of attractive presenters over grizzled newscasters has been evident across all the major networks.

Newsreaders such as Natasha Kaplinsky and Darren Jordon on BBC1 and Mary Nightingale and Katie Derham on ITV have seen their careers take off.

Earlier this year, veteran BBC reporter and newsreader Philip Hayton quit after apparently becoming fed up having to work alongside the glamorous - and younger - Kate Silverton.

Speaking at the Royal Television Society on Monday night, Snow said: 'We are seeing the rise of a generation of anchors who have never been in the field.

'They've never been told to drop everything and get on a story, get out of the office and to the airport. They've never been part of a reporting team on the ground.'

Snow, who travelled to New Orleans to report on Hurricane Katrina, said he and ITV1's Mark Austin were among the 'last generation' of newsreaders who had got their hands dirty covering major international stories.

Of the newer presenters, he said: 'There are people now who are saying "sorry, I don't do that" and "I don't know how to do that" - and as a result never left the studio.'

His comments echo criticism of newsreaders' huge salaries earlier this year by the BBC's former political editor Andrew Marr and Today programme presenter John Humphrys.

In what was seen by some as a dig at fellow BBC presenters such as Huw Edwards and Fiona Bruce, Marr said they were paid too much money for simply 'reading an Autocue', while Humphrys said their jobs required 'no brain'.

Last night Snow was keen to 'clarify' his remarks, insisting that he had not meant to criticise current newsreaders.

'I was merely trying to warn against this happening. It matters a lot because you need to have someone bringing you the news who understands what they're talking about,' he told the Mail.

Snow has been the main presenter of Channel 4 News since 1989.

He hosted the programme from Hong Kong during the handover to China, was in Washington during the impeachment hearings of former President Bill Clinton and reported from Stormont during the Good Friday negotiations. In contrast, many of the new generation have little experience beyond the studio.

Miss Kaplinsky, 33, made her name as a local TV news presenter and has hosted Strictly Come Dancing.

Her colleague Darren Jordon graduated from Sandhurst before becoming a sports presenter, while Mary Nightingale is still probably best known as host of the holiday programme Wish You Were Here?

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