List of infotainers

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Infotainers are entertainers in infotainment media, such as news anchors or "news personalities" who cross the line between journalism (quasi-journalism) and entertainment within the broader news trade. Notable examples in the U.S. media are Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Bill O'Reilly, Maury Povich, Deborah Norville, and Geraldo Rivera among others.

Barbara Walters, though not the first to cross the line between news and personality stories, is for many the quintessential news-media icon. Her career dates back to the 50's, and her current prominence at ABC is largely celebrity interviews, with a long running co-anchorship on 20/20 with Hugh Downs and John Stossel.

When Geraldo Rivera became an MSNBC correspondent and host of his own political talk show, others within the NBC organization voiced their protest, including Tom Brokaw who was reported to have threatened to quit. Rivera had a notorious history as a "sleaze reporter" and daytime talk show host, where he and one or two others were representative of "trash TV"; television seen to have little social value or redeeming intelligence, but still popular with viewers.

A particular example is of the career of Andrea Thompson, formerly an actress on Babylon 5 and NYPD Blue, who quit acting to become a reporter for KRQE News in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was later hired by CNN Headline News. She later quit CNN, citing a desire to spend more time with her son. Some speculated that others at CNN resented the presence of the former actress, and had some degree of influence on her decision to quit.

Others have made the jump between entertainment shows and news reporting.

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