TODAY'S TALENT

There is an obvious difference between anchor reels and stand-up reels. Having said that... 

a) Writing. The copy is often written by producers and not by anchors, but I am listening to the writing. Is it "ear-catching?" I am trying to tune my ear to see if the anchor actually understands what they are saying. 
That helps tell me if they wrote it. 
b) Delivery. I am a sucker for a good voice. And I don't mean the traditional "anchor voice" but a voice that has character and inflection and 
understanding. I am looking for pace in the delivery. Do they slow down appropriately, pick up the speed when necessary, drop down the tone, lighten the tone. Are they reading for sense, not sound? 
c) Look. I will confess it. Appearance is still important. Not overwhelming. But important nevertheless. 
d) Community. The diversity of my community should be reflected in my talent. 
e) Journalism. I especially like anchor reels that have real, honest-to-God reporting on them, preferably packages with field stand-ups. I 
want a working anchor/ reporter, not a reader. 
f) Work ethic. If the anchor reel passes the taste test, I want to check their references. This is at least 50/50 of the process. A great on-air look has to be matched with great references. I want to know that they actually are involved in the process and work at it. Anchors are de-facto newsroom leaders. I want to know that they will be. 
g) Caring. I put all this into one big hopper marked "caring." Do they care about their community? Do they care about their job? Do they care about journalism? Hopefully I will get some sense of that from the reel, but I also look for the interview and references to flesh out this most critical element.

Nobody is going to hire off a reel alone. That is axiomatic. But most anchors seem to think that if they are great on-air, it will somehow make up for any deficiencies in other areas. Not any more. None of us can afford those kind of mistakes any more, if we ever could.