@Reever wrote:
Has anyone else noticed a trend of hosts, vendors and news anchors drinking coffee on live TV ? I find it very strange. My local news anchors keep mugs of coffee on their desks and even take sips of it on the air. Last week I saw Andrew Lessman on the air presenting his vitamins with a big white mug of coffee and then over the weekend David Venable was drinking on air.
I find it unusual that companies don't frown in this behavior. When I was a bank teller in the 1960s, the staff was not permitted to drink beverages at their window. Coffee breaks were to be taken during a designated set time. It seems strange that so many employees have gotten so lax today.
Television is completely different than working in a bank. I have a history in other occupations, but I've worked in television for a long time. The entertainment business is not like other industries in many, many ways.
QVC tries to create an atmosphere in which viewers see hosts and vendors as their friends. Casually drinking from a cup goes along with that, especially drinking coffee in the morning since the assumption is that many viewers are doing the same. It's deliberate.
As for news anchors, networks also want to keep an air of familiarity. It's very common to have mugs (often filled with water) on the desk as well as bottles filled with water underneath. There are many practical and sensible reasons for this.
Even without knowing all of that, I don't see how someone on television taking a sip from a cup every now and then could possibly be offensive.