(THE NATIONAL NEWS) There are 210 local television news broadcast markets throughout the US, according to TV audience research company, Nielsen.
From North Platte, Nebraska with a TV viewing audience of 14,000, to New York City where there are about 7.5 million people watching, these markets serve increasingly diverse demographics in terms of race, ethnicity and age range. Within these networks, there are about 52,000 broadcast reporters and correspondents who share news and inform those audiences, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.
Those TV news reporters, like their increasingly diverse audiences, often come from different backgrounds. Gone are the similar-sounding accents and pseudonyms sometimes encouraged by news managers to make reporters sound more memorable or “relatable” to viewing audiences. On trend are assorted hairstyles and divergent fashions.
Yet, for all the diversity, it’s still rare to see a broadcast reporter wearing a hijab. “I didn’t want to compromise my faith for my profession,” says Ayah Galal, a morning news reporter at WFSB, a CBS affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut.
