In the annals of broadcast news, there have been some notable opening and closing lines from news anchors. Memorably, during World War II, Edward R. Murrow began each report from the UK during the blitz by announcing, 'This is London.' Walter Cronkite famously ended each broadcast throughout his career with the signature line, 'And that's the way it is.' And, of course, who can forget Ron Burgundy's famous opening line, 'Good evening. I'm Ron Burgundy, and this is what's happening in your world tonight.'
OK, that last one was a joke, by the way. Or ... was it?
This week, BBC anchor Maryam Moshiri tried out a new signature opening for her newscasts that didn't even involve any words. We think it's a winner.
WATCH: BBC News opens with anchor Maryam Moshiri giving the middle finger pic.twitter.com/UHJZik12I5
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) December 6, 2023
Whoopsie. OK, maybe that one's not going to fly.
Moshiri took to Twitter the following day to apologize for her gaffe.
Hey everyone , yesterday just before the top of the hour I was joking around a bit with the team in the gallery.
— Maryam Moshiri (@BBCMaryam) December 7, 2023
I was pretending to count down as the director was counting me down from 10-0.. including the fingers to show the number. So from 10 fingers held up to one.
When…
Call us generous, but we're going to take her at her word on this one. Mistakes happen. Especially at the BBC. Most memorably, there was the weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker who, in 2010, gave a one-finger salute to anchor Simon McCoy who was kicking the broadcast over to him.
It’s good but it’s not quite schafernacker pic.twitter.com/2k3lnwffH2 https://t.co/SeFgEquucc
— harry (@mrharrymay) December 7, 2023
Tomasz Schafernaker walked so she could run https://t.co/npc3BSsdyN pic.twitter.com/06kP7iCa6u
— Manvir Bains (@MannyBLFC) December 6, 2023
He almost covered it up ... almost.
Twitter wasn't quite ready to let Moshiri off the hook though. As can be expected, users weighed in with some great takes on what Moshiri was really trying to say.
'We're number one"? https://t.co/VPIytbIWz1
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) December 7, 2023
Others thought it was a general sentiment from everyone at the BBC to their viewers.
Frankly so many shameless lies coming out of the BBC in recent years it's hard to tell the difference between being given the finger and watching their usual content. 🙄
— Chris Bartlett (クリス・バートレット) (@BartlettChrisJ) December 7, 2023
When @BBCMaryam tells you how “journalists” feel about their viewers - believe her. https://t.co/Ks9dd13a7J pic.twitter.com/u4ch2hp13Y
— Silence Dogood (@lordthx1139) December 7, 2023
I for one appreciate the BBC's more honest and direct approach https://t.co/LX4X8o1IGD
— Ben Sixsmith (@BDSixsmith) December 7, 2023
And people say there's no truth in journalism. https://t.co/oUZsYsgoxn pic.twitter.com/6kZOFGwSEz
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) December 7, 2023
Inevitably (again this being Twitter), Moshiri soon found herself as the basis for a new meme template.
— 🎸🎸Paul K 🎸🎸 (@PaulKinman1) December 7, 2023
Yes, we know that feeling all too well.
— FM-Rad1o (@frankmcdonald) December 7, 2023
When we were kids, it didn't matter if mom's back was turned. We all knew she had eyes in the back of her head.
😂😂😂 #BTC https://t.co/ut4xmbvFPS pic.twitter.com/9Xq9DqWqmz
— 𝒩otorious✮🥷🏾 (@Al_ameenX) December 7, 2023
Oof.
Then there were the equally inevitable Ron Burgundy references.
She’s gonna be https://t.co/F8E8AVrXik pic.twitter.com/fRJSjxRA9O
— Leonardo Aviles Crespo 𝕏 ™️ (@leito2383) December 6, 2023
Real life anchorman set up 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/2JLUj46EFZ pic.twitter.com/Djz0X9eeJG
— Conor munro (@Conormunro123) December 7, 2023
But maybe, just maybe, Moshiri was simply channeling her inner Elon Musk.
sure sure pic.twitter.com/M4U2Csa3hY
— MCJ (@matthewjura) December 7, 2023
We like that explanation the best. Musk is a trendsetter after all.
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