Victoria Sinclair, lead anchor for The Naked News, has mysteriously disappeared from the
site. Voyeurs everywhere mourn...
See, Victoria Sinclair was the essence of the web site's mind-fucking formula. She began
each broadcast with a somber newscaster deadpan -- as her fingers casually undid button
after button. Eventually, she was non-chalantly stepping out of her panties, and it all
caught viewers off-guard. Because she was reading the news. And stripping. How could
she be reading the news and stripping?!
The web site may be getting nearly as many viewers as CNN now, but it was Victoria
Sinclair who invented its winning tone. She was the show's first --
and at the time, it's only -- naked news anchor. And it was her professionalism that made
it work. An Associate Journalism Professor at USC gave high marks to her news
segments, noting Sinclair was the only Naked News-caster who claimed any professional
journalism experience. (She was a professional copy editor.) Sinclair herself proudly
told Playboy in June that she believed viewers were coming back because "the content and
delivery are superb."
Viewers certainly responded. "There used to be 2 groups of reporters: Victoria Sinclair
and all the others," one fan posted to Usenet in October. "She had so much class I can't
even address it." And Sinclair exercised her own editorial perogatives. When she
announced the death of Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau, she kept her clothes on, and she
also anchored the site's historic announcement
September 11 that they had chosen not to broadcast.
Sinclair seemed aware of the irony. When she read one end-of-the-broadcast editorial,
she joked that "Media is the new church, and most will sell their soul for a few moments
in the spotlight." Now that appears true even for The Naked News itself. The home page
has started linking to the company's own press releases -- and to a gift shop where you
can buy Naked News coffee mugs. All the gee-gaws and come-ons littering the redesigned
site just make it seem more impersonal than the early days. Back then it was just a
few familiar faces gamely reading the news, and messing with your head. It's sad to look
over its expanded line-up of ten stripping females -- and not see the pioneer who
started it all.
Oh well, life goes on, I guess. But for disgruntled fans of the missing Victoria
Sinclair, I offer the following technical tip. If you select "RealPlayer" as your viewer
for the Naked News, you can then click on the image with your mouse and select
"Full-Screen" images.
Without having to pay the site's $119 yearly subscription fee......
