Starting New Year's Day, CNN's newsroom is going to be missing a key anchor.
TJ Holmes is headed to BET, according to a statement issued by the station.
Since October 2006, the 34 year old popular anchor had become a favorite with women (and some men) for his looks, deep voice, and cool appeal.
But he wasn't well liked by some journalists. Folks that I've spoken with privately have complained about his lack of journalistic credibility. They felt that too much attention was paid to the superficial aspects of Mr. Holmes and not whether he could report the news properly.
TV news is a tough business. You could be the perfect anchor and still get criticized. Some criticism is race-related, while other cheap shots could be due to feelings of jealousy.
In fact, I have been disheartened about how looks have become more important than the ability to genuinely connect with people. Journalism started in a "journal" and not on TV. While TV is a great tool to promote good storytelling, presentation is only half the battle. If you really don't respect the tedious process of production--which includes countless hours of research and being rejected for interview requests--then you might not be in the business for the right reason.
I feel that TJ Holmes could have done better at CNN. But it wasn't his fault. Once he fell into the role of the Saturday and Sunday morning heartthrob, he couldn't break out of it. While he might have had some panties thrown at the TV screen, he never got a chance to differentiate his charismatic and professional sides.
Hopefully, BET will give him the opportunity to become the next "Ed Gordon." (Ed Gordon has been BET's on and off again journalism mainstay.)
But if he thought he got confused with Don Lemon at CNN, just wait until folks start calling him Emmett Miller (below).
He'd better go over to MSNBC--where there's no chance in hell he'd be confused with Al Sharpton.
(Good luck, Loutelious Jr.)
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