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Monday Is Hug A Newsperson Day, Give Some Love To Your Favorite Newsman Or Woman

By Coburn Palmer
Published on: 10:19 PST, Apr 3, 2016

Monday, April 4 is national Hug a Newsperson Day so take the opportunity and give a great big hug to your favorite newspaper reporter, TV anchor, photojournalist, editor, or radio personality.

The national “holiday” began in 2009 when Fox and Friends anchor Clayton Morris set up a hugging booth in Manhattan for National Hug an Anchor Day. That first holiday wasn’t very successful, with most passerby giving Morris a suspicious stare, but the sentiment has carried over into the modern version of this important day.

Join the movement on social media with #HugANewsPersonDay hashtag and give your favorite newsman or woman a virtual hug on Monday, they need it.

The news industry has been in turmoil for a number of years as it struggles to find a business model capable of making a profit. The public’s demand for entertaining and important news remains constant, but the rise of the internet has made it difficult to charge money for their expensive product.

Some news sites have chosen to hide their stories behind a paywall while others have increased the number of ads on their websites to help pay for the content they create and that’s led to a rise in both ads and ad blockers. The concept has become so enmeshed in daily life South Park creators tackled the issue during their latest season.

Other notable newsmen and women from yesterday and today include Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Barbara Walters, Peter Jennings, Megyn Kelly, Katie Couric and Walter Cronkite.

These famous journalists and others like them work behind the scenes every day to bring important news stories to life.

Every day news tips must be hunted down, researched and turned into compelling narratives the media consuming public want to follow. Meanwhile, creative photographers and graphic designers work to create compelling images used to capture the reader’s attention.

Hardworking reporters have filed information requests to uncover the truth behind Making A Murderer’s Steven Avery, researched important clues to undercover government secrets and captured controversial events to create compelling videos.

Some brave NPR reporters have even attended hostile environment training before covering Donald Trump rallies, according to TruthRevolt.

Clearly it’s become both dangerous and unsafe to be a journalist at these events.

Newsmakers follow strict guidelines laid down by the Associated Press in their style guide when writing copy for newspapers and media websites.

The AP style guide is updated every year; the latest change made by the experts is decapitalizing the words internet and web, as Susan C. Herring told Poynter.

The fact is, decapitalizing internet is part of a universal linguistic tendency to reduce the amount of effort required to produce and process commonly used words. Not only does decapitalization save a click of the shift key, but, as one marketing website put it, “Capital letters are speed bumps for the eyes when reading. They should be eliminated where possible.

Remember to hug your local newsperson this Monday, April 4 and thank them for all their hard work.

Just so you know, April 4 is also International Carrot Day, National Fun Day, World Rat Day and Walk Around Things Day, according to people who keep track of these things.

Photo Credit: (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/Shutterstock

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