ITV anchorman Mark Austin has criticised newsreaders for being good-looking and lacking in the right experience. Mark, 49, said that some newsreaders were appointed for their good looks over proper journalistic training and singled out 24-hour news channels as the worst offenders. "I do think there are a number of pretty young women and handsome young men without a solid journalistic background reading the news nowadays... naming no names, but particularly on the 24-hour news channels," he said in an interview with the Radio Times. Mark, who was voted sexiest male newsreader of all time in a recent online poll, also warned that inexperienced anchors could not rely on looks alone to succeed as a reporter. "I do believe, though, that they'll get found out. You don't need to have been to a war-zone to read the news, but it does help." Mark also admitted he was disheartened when he was sidelined for Sir Trevor McDonald and Julie Etchingham when ITV resurrected its 10pm bulletin in January. "Shall we just say I was disappointed. But I did think that axing News at Ten in the first place was the single most catastrophic mistake in the history of television news. "And that point was proven when the BBC promptly moved their late-evening news to the 10 o'clock slot."
